


Conversations

by Dazzlious



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Threats, F/M, Swearing, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazzlious/pseuds/Dazzlious
Summary: A chance encounter in a Hogwarts corridor marks the start of an unusual relationship between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Conversation One – Thursday, 29 May 1997 – Hogwarts Corridor

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The story isn't explicit but there is some swearing. Thanks to Mamacita for her beta skills and thank you to you for reading. Dx

Draco pointed his wand at a rat that was making its way along the corridor.

‘ _Avada Kedavra!_ ’

The rat stopped in its tracks. Draco went forward to peer at the rodent. It was dead.

‘Sorry, Ratty,’ he said, sounding apologetic. He waved his wand once more. ‘ _Evanesco!_ ’

The rat vanished, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.

Draco sighed loudly. He knew what he had to do, even though it weighed so heavily on his heart that he thought it would burst, but he still had no clue when he was going to do it.

All his previous attempts to kill the Headmaster through a third party had backfired in one way or another, so now he had no choice. He would have to deal the killing blow himself, even though it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. Draco had no other option, though. He was well aware that if he didn’t succeed, both he and his parents would be killed by the Dark Lord as a punishment for his failure.

His work to restore the Vanishing Cabinet in the secret storage room had finally paid off and it was now working, a connection between Hogwarts and Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley that no one in the school knew about apart from him and which broke through the many wards placed on the school to ensure no one could intrude without the Headmaster’s knowledge.

All Draco had to do was get word to his Aunt Bellatrix that the cabinet was ready and she and an army of Death Eaters could walk into the school as freely as if they were students, and then what damage they could do to the interfering Mudblood-loving Headmaster and his associates. With any luck they would get Potter and his friends at the same time, the so-called ‘Chosen One’ felled before he had a chance to build an army against Lord Voldemort.

With Dumbledore dead, his band of degenerates that called themselves the Order of the Phoenix would be in disarray and the Dark Lord could return to full power, taking over the Ministry of Magic and the whole wizarding world. Then his faithful servants, of which Draco was now one thanks to his aunt, would be rewarded. And if he were the one to rid the world of Dumbledore, then he would be lauded for his magnificent achievement.

There was only one problem. Draco really didn’t want Professor Dumbledore to die.

He knew deep in his heart of hearts that this was the reason the previous attempts on the Headmaster’s life had failed; they were more a show for the Dark Lord to prove that he was doing something rather than actual attempts to end Dumbledore’s life. But now the time for pretence was over and he had no choice but to step up and put his plan into action.

Draco needed to be sure that when the moment came he could say the words. He knew there was a big difference between killing a rat and killing a human, and that the ability to slay one didn’t necessarily mean he could do the same with the other, especially when he already knew his guilt over today’s rat would be added to the tally of the others he had felled over the last couple of weeks.

Just then there was a noise, pulling Draco from his mournful reverie. He stared around him warily. He had picked this particular area of the castle because very few people came this way, so he was pretty much guaranteed to get some privacy. Tonight was the first time in the almost two weeks he had been coming here that anyone had intruded upon him.

As the person came into view, Draco raised his wand, pointing it directly at Hermione Granger, who hadn’t yet noticed him as she had her nose buried in a book. Of course she did. The bloody Mudblood swot was always studying, and it drove Draco wild.

It seemed his looming presence had finally broken through Hermione’s concentration as she lowered the book, now staring at him in surprise over the top of it.

Draco felt his heart pounding like a drum as he realised that an opportunity had just presented itself. He needed to be sure that he could kill Dumbledore, and in order to prove that he could do it he could kill the witch now standing in front of him. She deserved it, after all. The fact she was a Mudblood was more than enough reason. Everyone knew the wizarding world was better off without them — they stole magic that they weren’t entitled to from Purebloods, or so his father had told him throughout his entire life.

But this one was also a friend of the ‘Chosen One’ and was so sharp she could cut herself. Without her, Potter and his idiot mate Weasley would be utterly useless and wouldn’t stand a chance against Draco’s new master. As if that wasn’t enough, the little upstart actually had the audacity to be better than Draco in lessons, her incessant studying pushing her to the top of every class even though she wasn’t worthy of being at Hogwarts in the first place.

If there was anyone who deserved to die, Draco thought maliciously, it was definitely Hermione Granger.

Hermione was surprised to see Draco Malfoy lurking in this corridor. It wasn’t well-used as it wasn’t easy to find, and she had never seen anyone when she had used it as a shortcut to get back to Gryffindor Tower from the Library previously, usually on those evenings when she was cutting it a bit fine for curfew and Professor Snape was doing hall patrol.

She had found it by accident one day when she was looking at Harry’s map, which showed the location of everyone in the school and every passageway and tunnel, however secret or well-hidden they were. As far as she was aware, the only place that didn’t show up was the strange room that she and her friends called the Room of Requirement; it seemed to exist outside of Hogwarts, although Hermione still wasn’t entirely sure how that worked.

When Hermione first spotted the corridor her friends had been watching the Slytherin now standing before her and his mates because Harry was convinced, against all sensible reason, that Draco was a Death Eater.

It was patently ridiculous that the Dark wizard who styled himself Lord Voldemort would draft a sixteen-year-old boy into his band of terrorists, but Harry stubbornly refused to give up the idea, however hard she and Ron tried to refute it. It had turned into an obsession that had lasted all year and was threatening to derail the work Harry was supposed to be doing with Professor Dumbledore to prepare against an attack by the evil wizard.

But Draco being in this corridor alone at this time of night was undoubtedly suspicious. It was also a big problem for Hermione, as he had his wand pointed at her and hers was currently somewhere in the depths of her bag.

Although there were strict rules about the use of magic within Hogwarts by students, Hermione wasn’t stupid enough to believe that the boy who had detested her since they had started school, at first because of her blood status — she was Muggle-born not a so-called Pureblood like Draco was — and then because she had proven herself to be better at both magic and studying than him, would release her unharmed when there was no one around to stop him if he chose to attack her, and more importantly, no one who knew where the two of them were or that they were together.

Hermione knew that Draco could seriously injure or even kill her before anyone could stop him; he was certainly sufficiently well-versed in magic to do both easily. But although he came from a well-known Death Eater family she still harboured hopes that unlike his father, Draco retained a shred of decency somewhere deep inside him that would be enough to stop him from going too far.

Perhaps it was just because he was so good looking, but although Hermione knew she was supposed to dislike Draco as much as he detested her — if for no other reason than he was her and her best friends’ greatest enemy at Hogwarts — Hermione had begun to realise over the last year or so that she actually rather fancied the handsome blond boy and had been somewhat disconcerted when he had increasingly appeared in her fantasies and dreams over the last few months.

‘What are you doing here, Draco?’ Hermione asked, deliberately using the boy’s first name in an attempt to put him on the back foot and stave off irritation.

Draco stared at her imperiously, a sneer crossing his face as she spoke. ‘It’s none of your business what I’m doing here, Granger. What are you doing here?’

‘It’s a shortcut back to Gryffindor Tower,’ Hermione explained. ‘Do you think you could put your wand down? I’m not going to attack you. My wand is in my bag.’

‘Are those idiots you hang around with here somewhere?’ Draco asked, looking suspiciously around him. He didn’t think they were or the three of them would have been together, but it always paid to check.

‘No. Harry and Ron are probably in the common room as it’s almost curfew,’ Hermione said, reminding Draco that they needed to move before they ended up in trouble for being late.

‘Good. That makes things much easier,’ Draco said. He was still pointing his wand at Hermione.

‘Please lower your wand, Draco,’ Hermione said again.

As she said it a cold spike of fear ran up her spine and there was a tight feeling in her stomach, making her feel sick. Draco wouldn’t really hurt her, surely he wouldn’t . . . would he?

Draco was now grinning like a maniac as he saw the flicker of fear in Hermione’s eyes. It made his heart race with a surge of excitement. In some ways it was a shame that the Mudblood had to die. She was a pretty girl, and if it wasn’t for her blood status he might even have been interested in having a relationship with her. Instead, he was going to kill Granger and prove he wasn’t the weak, pathetic coward he knew some of the Dark Lord’s supporters thought he was.

And then he would kill Professor Dumbledore.

‘I’m not going to lower my wand because I’m going to kill you,’ Draco said.

Hermione stared at Draco for a moment, trying to quell the terror that was rising inside her. She could see from the cold look in his eyes that he was telling the truth. He really was going to kill her and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him. She wished she hadn’t told him that her wand was in her bag, but it wasn’t really going to make much of a difference anyway. In the time it took her to open it and rummage around inside to find her wand, Draco would have already said the Unforgiveable curse that only one person, her best friend Harry, had ever survived.

Hermione could feel tears welling up at the thought that her end was going to come in this dusty, disused corridor without anyone even knowing it was happening apart from Draco. She had often suspected that her life might not be a long one, considering who her best friend was and that she had sworn to assist him in his fight against Voldemort in any way possible, but Hermione had always assumed she would die fighting; battling against the Death Eaters, not expunged like a piece of rubbish at the hands of an enemy she had never considered particularly worthy.

Determined not to give Draco the satisfaction of seeing her break down or beg for her life, Hermione blinked to get rid of the tears, took a deep breath, then raised herself to her full height and stared the blond boy down.

‘Why are you going to kill me?’ she asked, pleased to hear that her voice wasn’t shaking anywhere near as much as she had expected. Her body was, though, and she was having trouble trying to hide it, not helped when she dropped the book she was carrying because her hands were trembling so much.

‘This is my chance to finally get you out of the way once and for all because I’ve always hated you and it’s something I’ve imagined ever since I first met you.’ Draco’s voice was cold, as was his glare. ‘You never deserved to be in the wizarding world, you filthy little Mudblood. You only got in by stealing better wizards’ magic.’

Hermione frowned. ‘You don’t honestly believe all that rubbish about us stealing magic, do you, Draco? You must know it’s not possible.’

‘And yet you have magic that you don’t deserve to have,’ Draco said.

He waved his wand at her again, seemingly gearing himself up to act.

‘Okay, so you’re going to kill me, and obviously I can’t stop you. But will you grant me one last request before you do it?’ Hermione asked.

Draco surveyed her for a moment as if suspecting a trap, then realised there wasn’t anything Hermione could do as she wasn’t holding her wand. His expression turned to a sneer once more.

‘A last request,’ he crowed. ‘What do you want? Are you going to ask me to wait until you’ve taken your exams because you’re worried about not getting top marks and dying before you get to use all that swotting you’ve done all year? Or maybe you want me to hold off until the end of the year because you’re not ready to die just yet. Is that it?

‘No,’ Hermione said quietly.

‘Are you going to weep and wail and beg me to change my mind; to grant you clemency and save your life? ‘Cos it’s not going to happen, you know. I hate you, and I want you to die!’

‘I just want a last request,’ Hermione’s voice was still low and measured.

‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening,’ Draco sneered.

‘But it’s traditional for the condemned to get a last request, Draco. You should at least consider it.’

Hermione hadn’t stopped looking directly at him and she knew it was making the Slytherin boy feel uncomfortable.

‘All right. So let’s say just for the sake of argument that I’m willing to consider this last request of yours. What is it that you want?

Hermione took a deep breath before she answered, ‘I want you to kiss me.’

Draco stared at her, his mouth slack with surprise. Then he wrinkled his nose. ‘Kiss you? You have got to be bloody joking. Don’t be so fucking disgusting!’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were gay.’

The response was out automatically before Hermione realised what she had said. Then it hit her. She cringed inwardly, knowing it really wasn’t going to help her cause. Any second now Draco would kill her and it would be her own stupid fault for winding him up.

But it seemed that Draco wasn’t ready to commit murder just yet. His expression now furious, he rounded on Hermione.

‘I’m not gay, you stupid fucking Mudblood.’

Hermione observed him carefully, debating whether she should reply or if it would just make things worse. But things couldn’t get much worse than being killed by Draco, and she was never going to change his mind about doing that if she didn’t talk to him.

She nodded sadly. ‘Oh, right. You don’t want to do it because I’m Muggle-born.’ She paused for ten seconds, clenching her fists as she counted, trying to force herself to be calm and accept whatever was going to happen. ‘Okay, then. Well, if you’re not willing to grant my request, then you may as well kill me now.’

‘You’re not going to make me feel guilty about doing it, you know. You deserve to be dead,’ Draco said, waving his wand again.

‘But why do I deserve it?’ Hermione asked.

Draco scowled. ‘Because you’re a Mudblood, that’s why.’

‘And that’s all bullshit, Draco. You know it is.’

Hermione could see Draco twitching and knew he was running out of patience. She only had a few seconds left to find the boy she was sure was in there somewhere.

She opened her arms, presenting a clear target and looking straight into Draco’s eyes and revealing the hurt in hers said, ‘I’m just a girl. Nothing more, nothing less.’

Draco gripped the back of his neck, turning on the spot as he tried to calm and ready himself. Gods, why was this was so bloody difficult to do? Especially when he already wanted to kill the Mudblood. How the hell was he going to manage when it was Dumbledore?

Although Draco really didn’t want to admit it, his heart had beat a little faster when Hermione had revealed her last request. Immediately, an image had sprung to his mind of him grabbing and kissing her with an intensity that took her breath away and left the pretty Gryffindor girl gazing at him with adoration, but he shook his head to remove the thought.

He didn’t like Hermione Granger, and he definitely didn’t want to kiss her, even if she was looking more winsome and vulnerable than he had ever seen her. Again, the urge to grab her and hold her tight, to apologise for being an idiot flashed into his brain. But Draco knew he had to be strong. His life and that of his parents depended on him being able to kill Dumbledore and if he couldn’t even get rid of the Mudblood—

‘Why do you want me to kiss you, anyway?’ he asked, realising he needed to know.

Hermione shrugged. ‘I just wanted to know what it would be like to kiss someone so handsome.’

‘You think I’m handsome?’ Draco asked. He felt his chest swell with pride at the compliment.

‘You’re very handsome . . . and clever. Yet you understand nothing,’ Hermione said. ‘Just kill me, Draco. Stop playing with me.’

Draco grinned, the malicious expression back on his face. ‘I know what you’re doing,’ he said smugly. ‘You were hoping that if you could convince me to kiss you, it would make me feel sorry for you and I wouldn’t kill you. Well, sorry, Mudblood. It didn’t work. You’re still going to die.’

Hermione shook her head. ‘That wasn’t what I was doing. I was just hoping for a moment of connection between us—

‘—but it’s too late now,’ she concluded sadly.

Draco raised his wand again, looking at Hermione.

She stared back defiantly although the tears had returned to her eyes, making them glisten like stars.

Draco took a step towards Hermione, then a second and a third.

Hermione’s heart was pounding so hard now that she was half-convinced she was going to die of a heart attack before Draco had a chance to finish her off. She had no idea why he was coming towards her when the obvious and most straightforward thing to do was to kill from a distance and keep the whole thing impersonal. He didn’t need to get close to her, he just needed to point his wand in the same way he had been doing ever since she had accidentally stumbled upon him. 

For a moment her heart lifted at the thought that Draco might be having trouble following through on his threat and this was his way of stalling. After all, there was a considerable amount of difference between disliking someone and hating them enough to murder them, and while he might well have considered killing her over the years, that wasn’t the same as actually taking a life. Had what she had said given him pause to reconsider?

Hermione hoped so because she really didn’t want to die . . . and it was surely almost time for curfew by now.

As that thought went through her mind, Draco moved the final step between them. Without pausing or saying a word he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

The kiss was tender yet somehow extraordinarily intense, the sensation heightened by the situation in which it had occurred, and Hermione thought she had just died and gone to heaven. She gasped as the kiss finished, her heart fluttering like the wings of a butterfly as Draco’s mouth swooped again, capturing her lips for a second equally blistering kiss, his arms now crushing her body to trap her close to his. 

Then it was over and Draco was roughly pushing Hermione away from him, his expression as stunned as hers as he once again raised his wand and pointed it at her.

‘Wow!’ Hermione whispered, fighting the urge to run her fingers over her still tingling lips. She stared at Draco and said quietly, ‘Thank you, Draco. You can kill me now.’

Draco felt as if he had just been clubbed on the head by a large, blunt object. Surprisingly to him, his heart was racing even faster than before, the blood coursing through his veins causing a tingling sensation that matched the one still on his lips.

He gazed at Hermione, knowing he should kill her before she had a chance to say anything that would make him pause, or worse still would completely stop him in his tracks. But he already knew it was too late. As much as he had professed to want to kill her, Draco realised that deep down in his soul it simply wasn’t true and hadn’t been for quite some time, although it had taken this encounter to bring the realisation to the surface.

There were a lot of things he wanted to do to Hermione, although as a Pureblood he knew the thoughts shouldn’t even be crossing his mind. Kissing her again was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. For a moment a vision of a far more intimate nature assailed him, but before it had a chance to get interesting he was pulled back by Hermione’s words, spoken quietly and with such sad regret that it tugged at his heartstrings.

Draco lowered his wand again and sighed loudly.

‘Of course I’m not going to kill you,’ he said, his voice gruff and almost as quiet as Hermione’s. Accusingly, he continued, ‘You knew this would happen, didn’t you?’

Hermione stared back at Draco, seemingly unable to respond as confirmation of his release of her overwhelmed her senses and she struggled to stay in control. She would not break down in front of him whatever happened, no matter how grateful she suddenly felt towards the blond boy.

But now she had to get away from her captor and return to Gryffindor Tower. Quite apart from the impending curfew, Hermione had a horrible feeling that shock was going to set in shortly. She could already feel the trembling in her body as adrenaline created with the truth of Draco’s words flooded through her, and she had to fight down the urge to scream.

Hermione suddenly realised that Draco had been speaking, but she had missed the entire diatribe. The threat in his voice made her focus although she had no idea what he had actually said.

‘Sorry, what did you say?’ she asked, her voice still small and scared-sounding.

‘I said you owe me.’ Draco sounded mulish.

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

‘I don’t have any money, and I don’t believe I have anything else you want, Draco,’ she said honestly.

Draco appraised her for a moment. ‘Actually, that’s not true. You have quite a lot to interest me,’ he admitted, moving towards her again.

Hermione felt the urge to run but knew it would be a grave and possibly even fatal mistake to do so. Although Draco appeared to have changed his mind about killing her, his decision could soon reverse if she attempted to run away.

Draco stroked Hermione’s cheek, enjoying the softness of it. He could see from her anxious expression that he had disconcerted her, that she had no idea of what to expect from him now . . . or how to react to him.

‘I want you,’ he told her quietly.

Hermione tried to process what was happening, suddenly realising that she was still going to be in trouble whatever happened next. She was still in danger of being killed too if she upset Draco. But she honestly didn’t know what to say.

‘That’s not possible. You know it isn’t. I’m a Muggle-born, remember?’ She spoke softly, trying not to anger the blond boy.

Draco’s expression turned sour for a moment, knowing Hermione was right. Whatever stupid and fanciful thoughts he’d had didn’t change the truth that her blood status wasn’t compatible with his.

‘How can I forget something like that?’ he asked snidely. Then, ‘That was a nasty trick you pulled on me, Granger.’

Hermione stared at him reproachfully and shook her head. ‘It wasn’t meant to be a trick, Draco. I was merely hoping for some compassion from you if you realised that I’m just a girl, not a label, so I’m sorry you feel that way.’ Knowing she was probably being stupid, but also that it was the only way to convince Draco that she hadn’t been trying to trick him, she added, ‘If you really feel that way, perhaps you should just kill me.’

A haunted look crossed Draco’s face at her words but disappeared as quickly as it had come. 

‘I can’t do that now,’ he admitted, feeling slightly ashamed of himself even as he said the words.

Hermione considered for a moment. ‘Well, if that’s true then I don’t think you could ever have done it.’ When Draco didn’t respond she continued, ‘You’re not that sort of person, Draco. There’s a goodness in you whether you want to acknowledge it or not.’

Draco looked annoyed. ‘Are you saying that I’m weak? Because I’m not. Stop trying to distract and confuse me.’ His wand was up again, waving wildly now.

Hermione sighed and raised her hands in supplication. ‘I’m not saying you’re weak, nor am I trying to distract or confuse. I’m just trying to show you that you’re better than you think you are.’

‘I already know how good I am. I’m far better than you,’ Draco hissed.

‘You might be richer than me, but I don’t believe that you’re better. We’re just different, that’s all.’

Draco glared at Hermione, clearly not happy with her response.

Hermione took a deep breath, then asked, ‘Are you going to kill me?’

Draco shook his head. ‘No. But I’m not going to let you go either.’

‘I don’t think you have much choice. If we don’t get back to our common rooms soon we’re going to get into trouble for missing curfew,’ Hermione pointed out.

‘I don’t really care about curfew, and I’m not going to let you go,’ Draco said.

Draco took Hermione in his arms again to reiterate his comment, sensing that the gesture both scared and excited her. It excited him too, he realised. He hesitated only for a moment before kissing Hermione once more. It was hard and possessive, meant to display his desire every bit as much as his erection now pressed against her.

A second kiss followed, then when it became clear that Hermione wasn’t going to stop him Draco turned her, pushing her up against the wall of the corridor as his mouth continued to attack hers, bruising her beautiful soft lips with the ferocity of his kiss.

Hermione, her heart pounding both from the wonderful kisses Draco was bestowing and the terror she suddenly felt at being trapped against the wall, tried to remind her captor about curfew once again, but it seemed he still wasn’t listening.

‘I want more than kisses,’ Draco told her, his hands now moving to explore as his body continued to press against her, keeping her trapped. ‘You could give me more, Hermione.’

‘This isn’t right,’ Hermione said. ‘A few minutes ago you wanted to kill me and now you’re trying to make love to me. You need to stop this.’

‘No.’ Draco’s tone was colder again. ‘This is your fault, so you owe me. And you’re going to pay.’

‘How is this my fault?’ Hermione asked, sounding confused.

‘You made me feel like this. You made me kiss you and it set off all these feelings—’ Draco sounded tortured. ‘You have to let me do this.’

His hand was trying to work its way under Hermione’s skirt, fingers brushing her legs. Panicking almost as much as she had when she thought Draco was going to kill her, Hermione tried to push him away.

‘No, stop it. Please let go of me, Draco.’

But Draco had no intention of releasing Hermione, nor of stopping what he was doing. Inflamed and needing release, he refused her once more.

‘That’s not going to happen. I want you and you owe me, so just stop fighting and let it happen. You’ve made me so hard and horny that it’s not going to take long.’

For the third time that night Hermione felt tears welling in her eyes. This time she made no effort to stop them. Being defiant wasn’t going to help in this situation, but tears might at least give Draco pause for long enough that she could convince him to stop.

‘I don’t know why you’re crying,’ Draco said, sounding almost contemptuous. ‘Surely this is better than me killing you, isn’t it? We both get pleasure and you get to live.’

‘But I don’t want to do it,’ Hermione said unhappily. After a brief embarrassed pause she admitted, ‘I’m a virgin. I’ve never done anything like this before and I can’t just. . . .’ Her voice trailed off as she ran out of words.

‘You’re a virgin.’ Draco grinned. ‘Good.’

‘What does that mean?’ Hermione asked, fearfully.

‘It means that you’re all mine, that no one else has touched you but me,’ Draco said. Then his eyes narrowed as he stared at Hermione, suspecting she was playing him. ‘I think you’re lying to me. You went out with Krum. I don’t believe you didn’t do anything with him.’

‘I didn’t, I swear,’ Hermione insisted. ‘We kissed a couple of times, but that was all.’

She could see Draco didn’t believe her and knew it meant that he would renew his assault on her at any moment, but she couldn’t let it happen.

‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this, Draco. You don’t even want me, not really. It’s just the heat of the moment, and I’m sure you’ll regret it after—’

Draco moved to capture her lips to stop Hermione speaking.

Afterwards, he said, ‘You’re wrong, you know. I do want you. I just hadn’t realised before. You must be able to feel how much I want you.’

Draco pressed himself against Hermione once again.

Hermione stared at him unhappily. ‘Please, Draco, don’t do this. I’m not ready.’

‘That’s bullshit.’ Draco’s response was curt as he gripped Hermione tighter, making her hiss with pain.

‘No, it isn’t. I swear. I’m not ready.’ Hermione’s tears were falling steadily now.

‘But you owe me,’ Draco said, not hiding the anger and frustration he was feeling. ‘I gave you your life, Hermione, so you have to give me something in return.’

‘But not tonight,’ Hermione pleaded. ‘I acknowledge that I owe you my life, but please give me time.’

Draco considered for a moment, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. ‘How much time do you need?’

Hermione was perplexed by the question. ‘I don’t know how long it will take – how long is a piece of string?’

Draco studied her upset face, understanding that Hermione had no intention of capitulating and that anything they did would only be because he had forced her to do it. He could feel the anger rising, but the desire to kill was long gone and weariness was overtaking him instead.

‘All right, I’ll give you some time,’ Draco said magnanimously.

Hermione looked relieved. ‘Thank you, Draco.’

‘This isn’t over,’ Draco warned. ‘You still owe me.’

Hermione nodded, thinking it better to remain silent rather than start another argument. Hopefully, despite what he had just said, once a few days had passed and things went back to normal Draco would forget all about the two of them getting together. Even if it meant that he went back to hating her for being Muggle-born it would be better than being forced into doing something she really didn’t feel ready for, although Hermione couldn’t stop the twinge of disappointment she felt at the thought of Draco despising her again.

‘I’ll give you until my birthday but not a moment longer,’ Draco said.

Hermione felt a ripple of dismay at the imposition of a deadline, her stomach roiling as she realised the Slytherin boy was waiting for her to agree to his terms. She could refuse to accept it but suspected that would just lead to Draco changing his mind about waiting. She tried to school her expression into something less morose as she nodded her agreement, all the while trying to remind herself that it could be so much worse – she could have been dead.

‘Thank you, Draco,’ she said in a small voice. ‘We really do need to go, though, or we’re going to be late for curfew.’

‘I told you, I don’t care about that,’ Draco snapped.

‘But I do, so I’m going to leave now.’

Draco stayed pressed against her for a few seconds longer, but then moved back, giving Hermione space to move.

‘What were you doing in this corridor? You never did tell me,’ Hermione said.

Draco scowled. That’s because it’s none of your business. I told you, it’s not important.’

‘Okay, I’m sorry. I was just offering an ear in case you wanted to talk,’ Hermione said.

‘Well I don’t, and even if I did, I definitely don’t want to talk to you,’ Draco replied coldly.

 _And yet apparently you want to have sex with me_ , Hermione thought, still not completely understanding how this had come about when Draco still appeared to despise her.

She walked past Draco and went to pick up her book. As she stood up she realised the Slytherin boy was next to her again and Hermione tensed, waiting for him to grab her once more.

‘Goodnight, Draco,’ she said.

‘My birthday,’ Draco reminded her, somewhat unnecessarily, Hermione thought.

‘I haven’t forgotten.’

As Hermione walked back to Gryffindor Tower she wondered when Draco’s birthday was. She supposed she should have asked him really, but at the time she hadn’t been all that bothered about the actual date. She had just wanted to stop him from groping her and get away and back to her common room unharmed.

She couldn’t remember seeing him celebrate his birthday recently, and she knew Draco hadn’t taken his Apparition test when she and Ron had taken theirs because he and Harry hadn’t yet turned seventeen at the time. Considering this and the fact that Hermione didn’t think Draco would pursue her outside of school, it meant his birthday had to be sometime between now and the end of the term. She just hoped that it would be later rather than sooner.

But at least she was still alive.


	2. Conversation Two – Thursday, 5 June 1997 – Hogwarts Corridor

Hermione had been trying to avoid Draco all day but now it looked like she had no choice but to interact with him, despite the fact that she really didn’t want to.

In the aftermath of their run-in a week earlier Draco had pretty much ignored her although she felt him watching her occasionally during their shared classes. It made her spine tingle and, more disconcertingly, her heart patter, but there had been no repeat of the threat to kill her or mention of the debt the blond boy felt she owed him.

It took a couple of days for Hermione to fully get over the incident, and on reflection she realised how lucky she had been. She was certain Draco really had meant to kill her that night and she still wasn’t entirely sure how she had managed to change his mind, although maybe it really was just because he was a better person than his public persona suggested.

Hermione didn’t mention what had happened with Draco to either Harry or Ron because she knew they would react in the wrong way and it would only increase hostilities with the Slytherin, which might then lead to reprisals against her. It felt a bit like walking on a tightrope, trying to tread a path that would keep things on an even keel.

But earlier that day Hermione had been dealt a massive blow and even now, some eight hours later, she was still reeling, on the verge of falling from the tightrope into the abyss below, and she already knew talking to Draco wasn’t going to help.

As soon as Hermione and her friends entered the Great Hall for breakfast that morning she knew that today wasn’t going to be like other days. There was a slight frisson in the air; an excitement that she didn’t feel but could recognise in others although it wasn’t immediately apparent what the cause of the sensation was.

Hermione had taken her usual place at the Gryffindor table, poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and a cup of tea and taken some toast, which she buttered and slathered with a generous amount of raspberry jam before she looked around at what was happening in the rest of the room.

At first glance there didn’t seem to be anything happening that would be a cause for concern, but as Hermione’s gaze turned upon the Slytherin table a dull buzz of foreboding rose within her and she somehow knew that Draco and his cronies were the reason for the feeling.

The blond boy was in an ebullient mood, joking and laughing with his friends in what seemed like an almost party-like atmosphere. Hermione’s view widened, moving from the people to the table where a large amount of brightly coloured paper was scattered amidst the dishes of food. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised what it meant and a hollow feeling in her stomach made her feel suddenly nauseated. Hermione put down her toast, her eyes now locked on Draco as he held out his wrist, showing something to his adoring acolytes.

Today was obviously Draco Malfoy’s birthday — his seventeenth birthday — and he was showing off the watch his parents had sent him to celebrate his coming of age. 

The feeling of nausea continued to increase as Hermione’s heart sank. Draco had only given her seven days to get used to the idea of repaying her debt to him, no time at all when she didn’t feel in the slightest bit ready to get sexual with anyone, let alone the boy who had been her greatest enemy for years and who had threatened to kill her.

But Hermione knew that however late in the term Draco’s birthday fell she would never have been ready. She wasn’t even sure she would have managed to get used to the idea in a year from now. But despite that feeling of unreadiness she had promised, and Draco had let her live, and now she had a debt to repay, irrespective of how little she wanted to do it.

Draco held her arm where he had grabbed her on their way out of the classroom, stopping her from leaving without talking to him, and Hermione knew she had no choice but to stay where she was otherwise she might set him off with those mad threats to kill her again. He was clearly waiting until the rest of the class left the corridor so they could talk privately. Hermione’s only silver lining was that unlike the meeting place from last week this one was relatively well-visited, even if the final lesson of the day had just finished, so it was unlikely Draco would do anything to her in such a public place.

But that meant going elsewhere with him and doing so willingly. Hermione shuddered at the thought. She knew she had no choice but to agree, but the idea made her feel so uncomfortable. And now the last of the students were almost out of sight.

Without warning, Draco dragged her into a nearby alcove and pushed her up against the wall, his hard body pressed against hers, his breath warm on her cheek. Hermione closed her eyes, silently praying that he wasn’t going to hurt her. A moment later she felt Draco’s lips on hers. She kissed him back, trying to ignore the fear and nausea that were writhing like joint serpents inside her.

‘It’s my birthday today,’ Draco said once the kiss finished.

Hermione forced herself to calm down and opened her eyes to look at the Slytherin boy, who was still far too close for her liking.

She smiled and sounding falsely cheerful replied, ‘Well done you. Happy birthday! So you’re seventeen. I hope you got a nice watch to celebrate?’

Draco brushed away the trite birthday greeting. ‘You know that’s not the reason I was telling you that it was my birthday.’

Hermione looked uncomfortable. ‘No, I know it wasn’t. Look, I wasn’t trying to be flippant with you, and I know why you were saying it, but the truth is that I’m still not ready.’

Draco stared at her in disbelief. ‘How can you not be ready, Hermione? You’re seventeen . . . almost eighteen now, and you knew today was the deadline.’

‘I don’t think age has anything to do with it, Draco. It’s about whether you feel able to deal with what comes afterwards, plus all the sensations both physical and emotional, and I really don’t think I am. To be honest, the whole thing terrifies me . . . anyway, you only gave me a week. That’s no time at all.’

‘You’re just playing with me,’ Draco accused.

Hermione shook her head. ‘No, I swear I’m not. I’m just being truthful with you in hopes that you might try to understand, even if you can’t empathise.’ She took a deep breath then continued, ‘I don’t think your heart’s in it anyway. What’s up with you? You seem really stressed and distracted at the moment.’ She gazed at him sympathetically. ‘You can talk to me, you know. I promise I won’t tell anyone else that we’ve talked, or what we’ve talked about.’

‘I can’t talk to anyone,’ Draco admitted miserably. ‘Anyway, I told you before that it’s none of your business.’

‘I’m sorry, I was just trying to help, that’s all.’

Draco studied Hermione for a moment. ‘If you really want to help me, then fuck me. Sex is supposed to relieve stress, so that would help no end.’

Hermione shook her head, looking miserable.

‘Perhaps I should just make you do it,’ Draco said, his voice fiercer now. Taking his words as his cue, he pressed his body into hers, his hands around her wrists as he pushed her back against the wall, holding her there. ‘You couldn’t stop me. You’re not strong enough.’

Hermione stared at him in panic. This was getting out of hand; she had to do something.

‘That’s called rape, Draco. And if you’re going to force me into it then you might as well kill me because I won’t want to live afterwards.’

Draco sighed loudly. ‘Gods, you are so melodramatic, Hermione. I just don’t know why you’re so against doing it. Are you sure you’ve not been with anyone else?’

‘No. I told you before, Viktor and I kissed a few times but that’s all. I’ve never been out with anyone else. I can’t just—’ Hermione broke off, sounding really upset now. ‘Look, I promise that I’m yours, just not yet. You have to give me more time . . . _please_ , Draco.’

‘I still think you’re just stringing me along,’ Draco growled.

‘I’m not. I promise I’m not. But I didn’t realise your birthday was going to be so soon or I would have said something earlier,’ Hermione said.

Draco released Hermione, then turned and punched one of the suits of armour stored in the alcove. He winced at the pain in his fist, rubbing it as he swore loudly, pacing the area like a caged tiger before turning back to the now terrified Hermione, who was watching him fearfully and wondering if he was going to turn on her next.

He walked back over to her, his eyes never leaving hers. Hermione blinked away tears and tried to stay strong. Draco sighed loudly and rubbed his forehead, trying to dismiss the anger that was still raging like a furnace inside him.

Sounding tense but resigned, he said, ‘All right, Hermione. I’ll give you a bit more time.’

Hermione relaxed a little and tried to give a tentative smile to show that she appreciated Draco’s gesture.

Gruffly, he added, ‘But I’m not willing to wait forever and stalling isn’t going to make it go away. You still owe me. Do you understand?’

Hermione nodded. Quietly she said, ‘Yes. Thank you, Draco.’

Draco waved his hand dismissively, then said warningly, ‘Just don’t take too long. If you don’t come and find me of your own accord, I will track you down. And next time I won’t be so forgiving.’

‘As soon as I’m ready,’ Hermione promised, although even as she said the words she was still sure that it wasn’t going to be any time soon, that eventually they would find themselves in the same situation as this afternoon, and she would end up angering Draco again.

‘You owe me, Hermione,’ Draco reminded her.

He leant in and kissed her. Hermione kissed him back.

Once the kiss was finished, Hermione disentangled herself.

‘I need to go and do my homework,’ she said. ‘Have a good evening, Draco. Enjoy the rest of your birthday.’

‘I’m not going to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I was expecting to,’ he pointed out sourly.

‘I did apologise,’ Hermione said, unable to stop the guilt that rose within her at his words.

Draco sighed loudly. ‘Yes, I know you did. Go on, go, before I change my mind.’

Hermione didn’t need to be told twice. She slid past Draco and out into the corridor. But before she could leave, he grabbed her arm. Her heart clattered with panic that he had decided not to let her go after all. She stared at him fearfully.

‘Don’t leave it too long,’ Draco said.

‘I won’t.’

As soon as Draco released her, Hermione hurried down the corridor away from him, trying not to give away her fear by running. As she went she wondered anxiously what she was going to do now.

Draco obviously had no intention of giving up but she was unlikely to feel ready to meet his virtual and no-doubt sliding timescale, so another tense and potentially horrific confrontation would happen again sometime between now and the end of the term – she doubted he was willing to wait until next year.

This was stress she didn’t need when the end of year exams were coming up soon. Her focus should be on revising for them, not trying to prepare for, or more likely attempt to escape a sexual relationship that she neither wanted nor felt ready for. But at that moment Hermione couldn’t see a way out.

There was no point in reporting the rape threat to a teacher as she was unlikely to believed; everyone in the school knew of the enmity between her and Draco and that it was to do with her blood status, which made it unlikely that he was going to be interested in her sexually. There was no point in telling Harry and Ron either. Even if they did believe her, which was unlikely, Hermione knew it would just give them an excuse to resume hostilities with Draco, which could only end badly for her. 

She would just have to hope that once his birthday was over the upcoming exams and Draco’s previous distraction, which she still didn’t understand but suspected was something to do with his being in that deserted corridor, would give her some breathing space while she worked out what the hell she was going to do.

Her first and only plan at the moment was to avoid Draco as much as she could. But Hermione knew that was going to be no easy feat when they shared so many classes.


	3. Conversation Three – Wednesday, 2 September 1998 – Hogwarts Corridor

Hermione was embarrassed by the high-pitched squeal she had just emitted, although to be fair, Draco Malfoy had terrified her by suddenly looming up out of nowhere. She had no idea what he was doing in this corridor or where the hell he had come from.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ he asked brusquely.

Hermione glared at him, trying to calm her racing heart.

‘You scared the shit out of me, suddenly appearing like that. Where did you come from?’

Draco motioned towards a statue across from where they were currently standing.

‘There’s a secret passage behind that statue.’

Hermione glanced at the wall, trying to spot any sign of it, but failing. That meant it probably needed a spell to open it and she wondered vaguely how Draco knew of both the tunnel itself and the opening incantation, particularly when it must have only appeared since the school had been rebuilt.

‘Why are you here trying to give me a heart attack, anyway?’ she asked.

‘You’ve been avoiding me, so I had no choice,’ Draco said.

Hermione frowned, not understanding what Draco was talking about.

‘I haven’t been avoiding you.’

‘Really? Then why didn’t you come to find me as soon as school started?’ Draco asked.

‘We only came back last night. Anyway, why would I—?’

Hermione suddenly stopped speaking, understanding flooding her brain as a cold chill ran up her spine. Surely, after everything that had happened over the last fourteen months, Draco couldn’t possibly still be expecting her to have sex with him, could he?

‘You still owe me, Hermione.’

Hermione stared at him in stunned silence, not sure what to say for a moment. Oh, bloody hell, he really did.

‘I can’t believe you’re still going on about this after everything that’s happened over the last year,’ she said.

‘Why not? Nothing’s changed between us, regardless of what may have happened in the world. You still owe me a life debt that _you_ agreed to.’ 

‘Nothing’s changed?’ Hermione’s tone was of disbelief.

She felt like screaming at Draco, telling him to look around the castle; it still wasn’t completely rebuilt after the battle earlier in the year against Voldemort and his Dark forces, which had included Draco and his parents despite their attempt afterwards to pretend that they had defected before the battle.

Hermione wanted to remind him of all the people who had died because of wizards like him and his family persecuting those like her for no good reason — her friends, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin and his wife, Tonks being just a few of those poor souls.

Most of all she wanted to remind him of what had happened to her at Malfoy Manor, when his aunt had tortured her almost into madness because of her blood status while he and his bloody family just stood by and watched.

Yet despite all of this, the blond man standing in front of her now, showing no remorse or regret for anything that had happened, still expected her to honour some stupid agreement that she had made under duress and in response to a death threat which Hermione was now convinced he would never have carried out.

It had only been a couple of weeks after Draco’s seventeenth birthday that he had set in motion the events that had eventually led to the Battle of Hogwarts, when he had let Death Eaters into the castle using a Vanishing Cabinet he had found in the Room of Requirement to bypass the wards set on the school.

Draco was supposed to kill the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, because it turned out that Harry had been right all year. The sneaky Slytherin _was_ a Death Eater and had been tasked to get rid of Voldemort’s greatest enemy.

He was the reason Katie Bell had been cursed by the necklace, the reason one of her best friends, Ron, had almost died from poisoning, and the catalyst for all the events that followed, including them leaving school to go in search of a way to defeat Voldemort.

This, in turn, had led to Hermione spending months and months in a bloody tent in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold, with only two constantly-bitching friends for company, the aforementioned torture at Malfoy Manor and then, finally, a painful and heart-breaking battle at Hogwarts during which, thank Merlin, that same sadistic aunt who had tortured her had been killed by Mrs Weasley.

Harry, who had witnessed the murder of the Headmaster, had told Hermione that Draco couldn’t kill Professor Dumbledore, that he had put his wand down and was about to agree to the Headmaster’s proposal to give him and his family protection from their master, so Professor Snape had done the deed instead.

Later they had discovered that the Headmaster had known all about the plot to kill him and, knowing his death had to happen and that he was already dying from a curse anyway, had always expected the Potions Master to do it in order to save Draco from the stain of having a murder on his conscience.

When she thought about it once the war was over, Hermione had realised that when she had unwittingly come across him in the deserted corridor, Draco must have been there practising to kill the Headmaster and he had decided to use her as a live test subject. Considering his hatred of her, that made sense, as did his eventual inability to take her life, considering what she had been told by Harry.

But what still didn’t make any sense was Draco’s demand in the wake of the kiss and his agreement to release her.

Although Hermione had long since put the whole uncomfortable experience from her mind, particularly with other more important things to worry about, she now remembered that in the weeks following their initial encounter and Draco’s birthday she had spent a lot of time trying to work out why Draco was so keen for them to get sexual when he still professed to hate her as much as he always had.

Hermione had never been able to fathom it, although she had wondered a couple of times, vaguely rather than in any definitive sense, whether Draco’s hatred of her was akin to her dislike of him with that underlying attraction that she could never quite get rid of, not even with everything that had happened later.

Although she hated to admit it, a glimpse of the blond man at Kings Cross station yesterday morning had unexpectedly made her heart race, and she had purposely sat facing away from Draco when she attended the welcome feast the night before for fear that she would have otherwise spent the whole meal watching him.

If that were the case then it would make sense that Draco was still trying to collect. She wondered whether he had thought about it when she, Harry and Ron had been taken to his home by the Snatchers. Had he imagined reminding her about the debt before his aunt tortured her? Hermione had no idea but was glad he hadn’t mentioned it.

Apart from alerting her friends to the fact that something serious had happened between the two of them that she hadn’t told them about, stuck in Malfoy Manor completely at Draco’s mercy she would have had no choice but to capitulate. Hermione was sure she would have hated what was done to her. But Draco’s parents and aunt wouldn’t have been impressed had they discovered their son’s agreement, so while it was possible he might have considered it, it was highly unlikely he would ever have said or done anything, even had there been time. 

Now the war was over, Voldemort was dead and gone along with his Death Eaters and all their stupid theories about Muggle-borns, and Hermione and Draco were back at Hogwarts, and suddenly their agreement had become the most important item on the agenda once again. The problem was that even if she ignored all the bad stuff from the war, Hermione felt no nearer to being ready to have sex now than she had on the evening Draco had considered killing her, so she knew her response wasn’t going to go down well. 

For a moment Hermione debated whether to point out that Draco would never have been able to kill her in the first place so the agreement could technically be considered void, but she knew that would do nothing but anger the Slytherin. Also, while hindsight was a marvellous thing, the truth was that at the time of the incident Hermione had been fully convinced that Draco would have killed her if she hadn’t managed to stop him with the kiss and all that followed, and he had undoubtedly intended to kill her, regardless of whether or not he could actually have done it.

Hermione had made the agreement in good faith, so she still owed Draco, even if in retrospect she hadn’t needed to do it.

‘Not with respect to our agreement, no,’ Draco said, pulling Hermione from her thoughts.

‘So you thought you’d ambush me in this corridor in hopes you could scare me into having sex with you?’

Draco scowled for a moment but then tried to look more friendly. It didn’t quite succeed.

‘You were supposed to come and find me, remember?’

‘Yes, but that was a little difficult after you let the Death Eaters into the school and got the Headmaster killed. Anyway, I still wasn’t ready then, even if you hadn’t fled the school that day.’ Hermione paused for a moment, then added, ‘And to be honest, I’m still not ready.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re going to be nineteen in a few days.’ Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Hermione sighed, then as if explaining to a five-year-old, she said, ‘I told you before that age has nothing to do with it, Draco. Nothing has changed since the last time we discussed this apart from me running around the country trying not to get killed. To be honest, relationships and sex weren’t exactly at the top of my list, not compared to finding Horcruxes and staying alive.’

‘Finding what?’ Draco asked, sounding confused. Then he waved his hand dismissively. ‘Don’t bother, I’m not interested. Anyway, this time I know you’re lying. I saw you with Weasley at the end of the battle, wrapped around each other like you couldn’t bear to be apart.’ His disgusted expression said everything about how he felt about this.

‘We were pleased that we were all still alive,’ Hermione said. ‘Anyway, all we did was kiss a few times. There was nothing more between us, I promise, and it fizzled out before it even had a chance to get remotely serious. Ron is just my friend, like Harry is, nothing more than that.’

Draco was still looking angry and Hermione knew she had to say something before he started considering forcing her again, especially when this area of the school was so quiet this evening that they were unlikely to be disturbed.

‘I haven’t forgotten our agreement, Draco, and I promise I’m still yours, but just not yet. You need to give me more time.’

‘That’s all I ever hear from you, “ _Give me more time._ ” But when will you be ready? How long will I have to wait, Hermione? Next week? Next month? Will I have to wait until Christmas? Or are we talking about my birthday again, or even longer?’

Hermione looked upset at his rebuke. Quietly she said, ‘I’m sorry, Draco. I can’t answer that question because I honestly don’t know. All I know is that at the moment I’m no better equipped to deal with having sex than I was the last time we discussed it.’

‘I don’t see why I should have to wait any longer. It’s been well over a year already,’ Draco grumbled.

‘But it’ll be worth it when the time is right,’ Hermione said.

‘Worth it?’ Draco snorted loudly. ‘I’m not so sure about that. You’d need to be pretty bloody good.’ He studied Hermione appraisingly for a moment then continued, ‘You know, I should have just killed you like I was going to, then this problem would be long gone.’

Hermione bit back the dual retorts that Draco couldn’t have killed her anyway and that if he had he would still be sexually frustrated, understanding that to make Draco angrier with her would be a big mistake.

Instead, she tried for a touch of light-heartedness. ‘But if you’d done that, you would have no one to spar with this year.’

Draco growled. Then, ‘I ought to just kill you now and have done with it.’

Hermione stared at him defiantly. ‘Go on then. Do it. If you’re so sure you can do it, then kill me, Draco. What are you waiting for?’

He growled again, clearly overwhelmed with frustration.

‘You know I’m not going to kill you.’

Draco stared at Hermione for several seconds, more than long enough to make her feel extremely uncomfortable.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed loudly. ‘All right. I’ll give you more time. But I’m not waiting forever.’

Hermione could feel the pressure of his unsaid words and found herself blushing. How long could she put Draco off for? At least he wasn’t telling her to go and find him again, but that meant he could ambush her at any time.

‘I can’t give you a date,’ Hermione said.

‘Just don’t leave it too long,’ Draco said gruffly.

Then he grabbed Hermione, pulled her to him and kissed her.

Hermione’s heart fluttered as she remembered how impressive Draco’s kisses were.

You still owe me,’ Draco said once the kiss was over.

And then he was gone, disappearing back through the secret passage, leaving Hermione feeling light-headed and a bit lost, staring around the corridor as if she had no idea what she was doing there.


	4. Conversation Four – Monday, 21 December 1998 – Hogwarts Corridor

‘Oh, bloody hell!’

Hermione found herself trapped under some mistletoe that had appeared in the corridor she had just been walking down. Silently she cursed her bad luck, knowing the only way she could get free was if someone kissed her. But that was going to be easier said than done. The corridor from the Library was rarely used at this time of day during a regular school week, but with most of the school already packing to go home for the Christmas holiday the place was like a wasteland – she was the only person apart from the Librarian, Madam Pince, who had entered the Library all evening.

That meant Hermione probably had a long wait before she would be released. She might even have to stay in this frigid corridor until curfew had passed and she was found by a patrolling teacher, or if Ginny somehow realised she was missing and told their Head of House and they came looking for her.

She knew her best bet was if Peeves the Poltergeist came along. The malicious little spirit would be sure to want to embarrass her by telling everyone in the school that she was trapped, but at least it would get her free somewhat sooner; with any luck everyone would have forgotten about it by the time the new term started. Unfortunately, that relied on him coming down this corridor and nothing was guaranteed where Peeves was concerned. He was rarely around when you needed him.

Hermione was annoyed because up until now she had been so careful, checking every corridor and room before she walked through it, ensuring that the magical parasitic plant hadn’t suddenly sprouted as it had a tendency to do every Christmas. She had only had to get through tonight and she would have been safe, as in the morning she was heading back to the Muggle world to spend the Christmas holiday with her parents before going to the Burrow to see her friends over the new year. But she had become complacent and had forgotten to check, and finding herself trapped with little hope of a quick escape was her reward.

She listened to see if she could detect anyone close by but the entire area was silent and unused. She wondered whether Madam Pince would hear her if she shouted but soon realised it was unlikely. The Librarian had already been locking up behind her when Hermione left, leaving it to the last possible moment as she always did, and had probably finished and gone back to her quarters by now. Even if by some miracle she was still there and had the door open Hermione doubted her voice would carry that far when she was in a cavernous stone corridor with high ceilings and alcoves every few feet that would take her voice away long before it got anywhere near the Library.

She really was on her own, at least for the foreseeable future.

A sudden thought snuck into Hermione’s brain that made her stomach swirl, both pleasurably and not quite so much. What were the chances of Draco Malfoy coming upon her while she was stuck like this?

Hermione’s heart raced at the thought of once again being kissed by the handsome blond man and she closed her eyes to imagine it for a moment, remembering how good their previous shared kisses had been. But then she remembered how vulnerable she was in this position, unable to move or to stop Draco if he decided he wanted more than a kiss.

And Hermione knew that last was certainly possible.

Ever since their previous encounter on the second day of school she had been anxiously awaiting Draco’s next ambush, knowing the man was unlikely to wait indefinitely for her to decide she was ready to have sex with him. Hermione wasn’t sure how Draco thought she was ever going to get ready when she wasn’t in a relationship with him — or anyone else for that matter — and she still had no experience either romantically or sexually. He seemed to just expect her to throw herself at him, but that she could never do.

She had spent the whole term keeping so busy that Draco hadn’t had a chance to catch up with her and she always made sure that she was never alone when she was outside Gryffindor Tower, even resorting to getting to lessons early or staying behind to discuss something with the teacher to ensure her path and Draco’s never crossed outside of the classroom and the Great Hall. But trapped as she was now she might have no choice if Draco came her way, and knowing the way her luck was running recently Hermione expected him to turn up in the corridor any minute now.

Already she was beginning to feel the cold; her hands and feet were like blocks of ice – there was nothing like an unheated castle corridor for keeping in the chill, especially when there was several feet of snow on the ground outside. The worst thing was that she had no idea what time it was or even how long she had been standing there because she couldn’t see her watch.

As the minutes continued to tick by and Hermione grew ever colder, her thoughts turned bleaker; she wondered if she would freeze to death before anyone came to help her. If she did, Hermione was sure she would end up as one of the Hogwarts ghosts, destined to wander the castle for eternity looking for a warmth she could never find and being pitied by the students when they heard the sad and slightly pathetic tale of her demise.

The cold was spreading up Hermione’s legs now and she wished she had taken the time to change out of her school uniform before heading to the Library. Although the robe added an extra layer it wasn’t very warm, and even her pullover was failing to live up to its role when the rest of her was getting so cold. The worst thing was that she still hadn’t heard anyone in the vicinity so there was no point in even calling out or she would probably end up losing her voice too.

Hermione was beginning to think that a visit from Draco, even with all that it would probably entail, might actually be worth it if he was willing to take her somewhere warm and get her a hot drink. But the longer she stood there, seeing nothing in the corridor ahead of her and hearing nothing coming from behind, the more despondent she was becoming.

To take her mind off the cold she tried to think about her friends, Harry and Ron, who she hadn’t seen since the end of August when she had returned to school without them. Hermione had written to the pair of them every week but had received only a handful of letters in return. This was nothing new, as the men had rarely written to her when they were at school; now they were working as Aurors off chasing rogue Death Eaters they had even less time to spend on keeping in contact with her. Hermione had been looking forward to seeing them over the new year, but at this rate she was going to be in hospital recovering from hypothermia, assuming she didn’t freeze to death first.

Hermione was feeling drowsy and she had a feeling that wasn’t good. It probably meant her body temperature was dropping too low. She knew she had to try to stay awake but it was so difficult when sleep seemed like the easiest and best option and try as she might, Hermione couldn’t keep her eyes open.

It probably wouldn’t be too bad if she closed them for a few minutes, just so she didn’t have to look at this corridor any longer. . . .

* * *

‘There you are. I wondered where you had got to.’

Hermione jerked awake at the sound of the voice. Her eyes fluttered open, squinting at Draco, who was walking towards her down the corridor, then they closed again. It really was too much effort to keep them open.

‘Hermione. Are you okay?’ Draco sounded anxious as he moved forward. ‘How long have you been here?’

Hermione struggled to open her eyes to look at him. Although she couldn’t move she knew she was shivering from the cold.

‘W–what t–time i-is i-it?’ she asked, having trouble speaking because her teeth were chattering so badly.

‘It’s almost curfew. I was waiting for you by the stairs to Gryffindor Tower because I thought you’d be coming back from the Library, but you never turned up. I assumed you had given it a miss this evening and were packing like everyone else instead. But then I saw Weasley’s sister and she said you weren’t in the common room or your dormitory, so I came to look for you.’

‘I-I’ve b-been h-here f-f-for well over a-an h-hour, t-then,’ Hermione said, unable to work it out in her sluggish brain. ‘C-can you r-release me p-please, Draco?’

She hated to ask him, but it seemed the blond man wasn’t going to think of it on his own.

Draco grinned. ‘I don’t know about that. I quite like you being unable to move. It means I could do all sorts of things to you and you can’t stop me. I just have to remember not to kiss you while I’m doing them.’

‘P-please, D-Draco. I-I’m g-going t-to f-freeze t-to d-death if y-you d-don’t r-release m-me and l-let m-me g-go s-somewhere w-warm,’ Hermione said.

‘I think you might be exaggerating slightly.’

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes again. It was all too much effort.

There was a sudden feeling of warmth and Hermione realised that Draco was pressed against her, a burning hand touching her gelid face.

‘Open your eyes, Hermione,’ Draco said.

With some difficulty, Hermione looked at him. ‘P-please,’ she begged.

‘You really are cold.’ Draco sounded more serious now. ‘Your lips have gone blue.’

‘T-told y-you, I-I’m f-freezing,’ Hermione said. ‘N-need to g-get w-warm.’

‘I can think of a great way to warm you up,’ Draco said with a grin.

‘H-hot d-drink would be g-good,’ Hermione replied, completely ignoring his comment.

‘Come on then, let’s get you out of here.’

Draco’s head bent slightly so he could kiss Hermione as his arms wrapped tightly around her. She really was absolutely freezing and was shivering like crazy; he could feel his body heat being leached from him by the ice in hers. For a moment he wanted to stay holding onto her to warm her that way, but from the colour of her lips and her tiredness Draco knew she needed more than he could provide.

‘Let’s get you to the Hospital Wing,’ he said.

Hermione shook her head, worried that going there would stall or stop completely her planned trip home. ‘N-no! I’m n-not ill, I j-just need to w-warm up a b-bit, tha’s a-all.’

Draco looked as if he didn’t believe her, but after Hermione continued to argue, he gave up.

‘All right. Let’s go to the kitchens instead.’ When Hermione looked confused, he added. ‘You can get a hot drink there, and there’s a fire you can sit by to warm up.’

‘I s-should just g-go back to—’

‘No, we’re going to the kitchens first,’ Draco insisted. ‘They’re closer than Gryffindor Tower. Once you get warm then you can go back to your common room, or to the Hospital Wing if you’re still not feeling great.’

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione’s waist, half pulling her along, half holding her up.

‘You said it was nearly curfew,’ Hermione said worriedly. Her shivering had subsided a little with their movement. ‘I’m feeling better now so let’s just go back to our common rooms.’

Draco ignored her, striding off in the direction of the kitchens.

Hermione gave up trying to argue. The meagre amount of warmth Draco had given her with his hug wasn’t enough to offset the cold and she was still shivering. A hot drink would definitely help, as would the fire.

She realised that she had missed the kiss, which Draco must have given her as she was free. A small tug of disappointment shot through her heart at the thought, and although she hated herself for it Hermione wondered wistfully if there would be the chance for another one at some point.

A few minutes later she was sitting by the fire while Draco was talking to the house-elves. Kreacher, who had stayed at Hogwarts after the war, came forward when he recognised Hermione, eager to serve her and Draco.

‘How are you feeling?’ Draco asked as they sipped hot chocolate.

‘I’m beginning to feel a bit warmer. I think I really was slowly freezing to death in that corridor.’

‘Maybe. I’m glad I found you, anyway. You look a bit warmer. Your lips aren’t blue anymore.’

‘We’re going to be late for curfew,’ Hermione pointed out.

‘I asked one of the house-elves to tell Professor McGonagall about you getting trapped. No one’s going to tell you off for trying to warm up a bit before making the trek back to Gryffindor Tower.’

‘But what about you?’ Hermione asked anxiously.

‘I’m looking after you, so I’ll be okay.’ Draco sounded supremely unconcerned. ‘Slughorn won’t say anything, anyway. He’ll already be tucked up and ready for bed so he probably won’t even notice.’

Once they finished their drinks, Hermione swore blind that she was warm enough to go back to her common room rather than the Hospital Wing. To be on the safe side, Draco insisted on accompanying her.

‘So what are you doing for Christmas?’ Draco asked as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower.

‘I’m going home.’ Hermione smiled. ‘I’m going to spend time with my parents. It’s been such a long time since I last saw them, so I’m really looking forward to it.’

‘I would have thought you’d be going to see your mates at the Burrow,’ Draco said, trying to hide the contempt in his voice.

‘I’m going there for the new year,’ Hermione said. ‘But Christmas is with my parents. If nothing else I need to make sure they’re okay. I didn’t have much time to check them out before I came back to Hogwarts.’

Draco frowned. ‘What’s wrong with them?’

‘Nothing, I hope,’ Hermione said. ‘But I Obliviated them during the war, so they had to have memory reversal and I’m not sure how it’s affected them.’

‘Why did you Obliviate your parents?’ Draco asked.

‘I wanted them to be safe. I didn’t want Voldemort or the Death Eaters using them to try to get to me, so I removed their memories of me and sent them to live in Australia.’

‘That must have been tough.’ Draco sounded sympathetic.

Hermione shrugged. ‘At least they were alive and I knew they were okay, even if they didn’t know who I was. I do feel a bit guilty about what I did, though.’

‘You just did what you thought was best,’ Draco said.

‘Yes. But I didn’t give my parents a choice, did I? I just did it. I probably should have at least told them what I was going to do.’

‘It doesn’t matter now. It’s all over and they’re back home with their memories intact, so you can stop feeling guilty about it,’ Draco said.

‘Maybe. Assuming they are okay.’ Hermione paused for a moment, then asked, ‘So are you going home?’

Draco nodded, but he looked morose. ‘Yes. But if I’m honest, I think I’d rather stay here for Christmas.’

‘Why’s that?’

Draco grimaced. ‘It’s not the same since the war. My father . . . well, you know what he’s like; he can’t get past what happened. He’s still just as bigoted as before the war and I find it really difficult to put up with.’ He paused, then said, ‘Perhaps I should come and stay with you and your family. I bet it’ll be far more cheerful than being with mine.’

‘Hmmm, I’m not sure you’re ready for a Muggle Christmas just yet,’ Hermione said.

‘Maybe not, but I can’t imagine it’s any worse than being at Malfoy Manor.’

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady who guarded the doorway to the Gryffindor common room.

‘Thank you for walking me back, Draco,’ Hermione said. She gave him a small smile.

Draco smiled in return. ‘I’m just glad I found you before you froze to death.’

‘So am I,’ Hermione admitted. ‘Thank you for rescuing me.’

‘That’s twice I’ve saved your life now,’ Draco said. Before the comment had a chance to make things awkward he added, ‘It was such a shame I had to release you, though. If you hadn’t been so cold we could finally have had some fun together.’

‘I’m not sure you and I have the same definition of fun,’ Hermione said.

Draco’s grin widened. ‘You would have enjoyed it. I’d have made sure of that.’

‘Maybe. But now we’ll never know, will we?’

‘We don’t need mistletoe for that,’ Draco pointed out.

Hermione felt her heart speed up, knowing that Draco was going to start talking about her owing him again shortly and she didn’t want to spoil what had actually been a pleasant interlude together. She was still disappointed about missing the kiss, though.

‘I really need to go, and so do you before you get into trouble. Thank you again, Draco. I really hope you have a good Christmas.’

Draco looked like he was about to argue but then thought better of it.

‘I hope you have a nice Christmas too, Hermione. Take care.’

He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as his lips found hers. When he eventually released her, Draco’s eyes were sparkling.

‘See, no mistletoe,’ he said, then winked. ‘I’ll see you next year, Hermione.’ He started to walk towards the stairs, waving as he went. ‘Don’t forget you still owe me.’

‘You’re never going to let me forget it,’ Hermione said quietly.

She turned to the Fat Lady. ‘Tinsel.’

‘Sleep well, dear,’ the Fat Lady said with a smile and the portrait swung open to reveal the doorway.

‘I will, thank you,’ Hermione said as she stepped through the portrait hole and into the almost stifling warmth of the Gryffindor common room.


	5. Conversation Five – Saturday, 5 June 1999 – Hogwarts Corridor

Hermione tensed as she was dragged into the alcove. She had been expecting it, of course, considering what the date was, but she still had no idea how she was going to deal with Draco, especially when she knew she was just going to upset him again.

If she was honest, Hermione was surprised at how little the blond Slytherin had hassled her this year. After the mistletoe incident she had half expected him to be lying in wait for her on her return to Hogwarts once the Christmas holiday was over, but instead he had left her alone, presumably realising that her answer would still be the same as during every previous conversation.

But if Draco thought backing off would do the trick, that Hermione would eventually track him down and tell him she was ready for them to take their non-existent relationship to the next level, he would have been sorely disappointed. Instead, she had kept resolutely away from him all year, engaging only when she had absolutely no other option.

Today Hermione knew she had no choice. Today was going to be difficult and Draco was probably going to end up threatening to kill her again . . . or to rape her . . . or maybe even both. It wasn’t going to be pleasant but there wasn’t any getting around it, and at least by grabbing her this early Draco was allowing her the opportunity to get it over and done with, so there was a vague chance she wouldn’t completely ruin his birthday.

‘It’s my birthday again,’ Draco said.

He pushed Hermione up against the wall, holding her in place so she couldn’t move.

‘Yes, I know it is.’

Draco waited, but when it became clear that Hermione wasn’t going to say anything further he asked, ‘Have you got anything to say to me?’

‘Happy birthday, Draco,’ Hermione replied.

Draco sighed. ‘I was hoping for a bit more than that from you, to be honest, Hermione.’

‘Not here, surely?’ Hermione asked.

If Draco thought they were doing anything even in the least bit sexual somewhere so public he had another think coming. She didn’t even want him kissing her this close to the more inhabited areas of the school in case anyone saw them. 

‘Not right here, no. I thought we could spend the day together and go somewhere more comfortable and finally have some fun. I’ve waited more than long enough now, Hermione. It’s been two years and still you’re making excuses. So don’t tell me you’re _still_ not ready because I definitely don’t believe you.’

‘Why would you not believe me? What have I ever done that convinces you that I’m ready?’ Hermione asked, genuinely interested to know what could have given Draco the idea that she had matured that much.

Draco shrugged. ‘I figure two years is more than long enough for you to come to terms with what needs to happen. It doesn’t matter whether you think you’re ready or not any longer.’ 

‘But what if I’m really not ready?’ Hermione asked, feeling the old anxiety and panic rising up inside her.

Draco growled, releasing her and stepping back, running his hand through his hair as he tried to quell his anger.

‘I told you, I don’t care. It’s been long enough and you owe me, so it’s time to pay up.’

Hermione took the opportunity to stand up straight and move a couple of steps away from the wall. She knew she couldn’t make a run for it, but she felt better when she wasn’t completely trapped.

‘But—'

‘Gods, you drive me fucking mad,’ Draco said, cutting her off before she could make another excuse. ‘At this rate we’ll be married before we actually get to do it.’

Hermione stared at him in surprise. ‘Are you asking me to marry you, Draco?’

‘No, of course I’m not. Don’t be so bloody ridiculous,’ Draco snapped. He stopped, his expression turning more wily as he looked at Hermione. ‘Well . . . possibly. Would it make a difference if I did?’

Hermione glared at him. ‘I don’t think that’s really the point, is it?

Draco looked a little shame-faced. ‘I’m sorry, you’re right. That was a stupid thing to say.’

‘I still don’t understand why you want me anyway,’ Hermione said.

‘What do you mean?’ Draco looked confused.

‘Why do you want me, Draco? You obviously don’t want to marry me, so why do you want to have sex with me so badly?’

Draco snorted. ‘You don’t need to marry someone to fuck them, Hermione. The two things don’t always follow on, you know.’

‘No, I’m well aware of that. But you’re clearly disgusted at the thought of being married to me, so why would you want to have sex with me?’

‘Because you owe me,’ Draco said.

Hermione stared at him for a moment. ‘Is that still the only reason you want to have sex?’

Draco shifted uncomfortably under her gaze but didn’t respond.

‘Because quite honestly, Draco, if that really is the only reason then it’s a pretty shitty one.’ Coolly, she added, ‘You should have just raped me back in the sixth year and had done with it, or killed me like you said you were going to.’

Draco stared at her, looking horrified.

‘Why are you saying this, Hermione?’

‘Because you haven’t changed at all in the last few years, have you? You’re still the same handsome, ignorant Pureblood who really doesn’t have a clue about anything.’

‘Well, that’s not true. I saved you at Malfoy Manor.’

Hermione stared at him incredulously. ‘Erm, no. That was Dobby, not you. In fact, you watched me being tortured and you didn’t even say a word, let alone do anything to try to stop it. So don’t try to paint yourself as some sort of hero, Draco, because I was there and I remember what happened.’

Draco’s expression darkened. ‘Aunt Bellatrix was completely mental and I wouldn’t have been able to stop her, none of us would. You have no idea how sorry I am for what happened because there’s no way to change it, so I’m always going to have failed you there. But honestly, I did help you. I helped all three of you.’

‘And how did you do that, then?’

Hermione had trouble keeping the belligerence from her tone as the old anger resurfaced, along with a touch of guilt — she knew Draco couldn’t have saved her from Bellatrix, but that wasn’t the point.

‘I knew as soon as I saw you who the three of you were, but if you remember I refused to confirm it to my father, which gave you a bit of time, giving Dobby a chance to rescue you. If my father had known it was you he would have summoned the Dark Lord immediately. Then you’d have all been dead.

‘I nearly was,’ Hermione reminded him tartly. She forced herself to calm down a little before continuing, ‘Anyway, I don’t believe you did that to help us. I think you were just worried what Voldemort would do to you all if you were wrong, so you did it to save your family.’

‘You’re wrong, I really did do it to help you because I knew who you were and I didn’t want you to die. But fine, if that’s really what you think then just leave.’ Draco spat the words sourly, pointing out of the alcove. ‘Go on, go back to Weasley, why don’t you?’

Hermione frowned. ‘Why are you mentioning him all of a sudden? I told you before that there’s nothing between Ron and me. We’re just friends.’

‘And yet still you push _me_ away,’ Draco said.

Hermione stared at him in surprise. ‘That’s not because of Ron.’

‘Then why?’

Hermione considered what to say, then decided to tell the truth.

‘Because I want my first time to be with someone I love and who loves me in return, not just because they feel I owe them.’ She bit her bottom lip anxiously for a moment, then continued, ‘You never did understand, Draco. The reason I asked for the kiss was in the hope that it would make you see me differently, that you would realise I wasn’t the terrible person you always thought I was. I thought that as time passed you were beginning to understand that, and I hoped that you might have come to care for me.’

Draco scowled. ‘But if that’s your criteria for having sex, then we’re never going to do it, are we?

‘—You tricked me after all,’ he growled.

‘Then maybe you should just kill me like you were going to originally. If I’ve disappointed you so badly then perhaps I deserve it,’ Hermione said quietly.

‘But I don’t want to kill you, Hermione. I want to fuck you,’ Draco’s tone was fervent, his eyes gleaming.

‘But _why_ , Draco? That’s what I don’t understand. You don’t like me . . . and you certainly don’t love me. So why do you want to do it so badly?’

Hermione stared him straight in the eyes, daring him to say something, but Draco looked away, presumably unable to answer the question. With a sigh he stepped back further, releasing Hermione completely, running his hand through his hair again.

After another couple of seconds passed without him saying anything, Hermione said quietly, ‘Maybe you need to work that out first, Draco. Because I don’t believe you’re actually any more ready to deal with the consequences of doing it than I am.’

‘Hermione—'

She looked at him, but it appeared Draco didn’t have anything further to say.

‘I’m going to go,’ she said.

Draco stared at her for a second, then he wrapped his arms around her, not tightly, but with a possessiveness that made Hermione’s pulse race.

He kissed her tenderly, then released her.

‘Go then,’ he said quietly.

Hermione wondered if she should reply, but knew she had already said more than enough and should leave while she still had the chance. Draco was so mercurial that he could change his mind on a whim. But hopefully she had given him something to consider and it would be a long time before he bothered her again, if ever.

‘Have a good birthday,’ she whispered as she walked away.

Hermione didn’t think Draco heard her.


	6. Conversation Six – Tuesday, 29 June 1999 – Hogwarts Corridor

‘You’ve been avoiding me, Hermione.’

Hermione stared at Draco in surprise, then said honestly, ‘No, I haven’t, Draco. You just stopped looking for me, that’s all.’

Draco studied her silently for a few seconds, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Hermione wondered if she should say something to break the silence, but couldn’t think of anything. She and Draco weren’t friends and despite the kisses they had shared over the last few years they definitely weren’t lovers, and anything she said to him would probably only prompt another argument between the two of them.

Now Draco looked as if he was trying to think of a way to phrase something and Hermione’s heart beat faster and her stomach fluttered, full of butterflies, not sure what he was intending. Had he thought about what she had told him on his birthday? Was he finally going to reveal some great truth that she had long suspected but needed him to understand too?

Sounding a little embarrassed, Draco said, ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said last time we spoke and you’re right, there’s absolutely no reason for me to want you, Hermione.’

Surprised by his comment, Hermione felt her heart catch, a sharp pain that she couldn’t quite understand shooting through it like a shard of ice. She managed to stop the gasp that accompanied it and instead tried to keep her expression neutral so Draco wouldn’t realise that he had upset her.

‘Oh, okay.’ She paused, then said, ‘Does that mean you’re going to go back to your original plan of killing me, then?’

Draco shook his head, a faint look of disgust on his face. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve gone way beyond that now.’

‘Well, that’s a relief, anyway,’ Hermione said, trying to lighten the tone a little. Attempting not to sound too curious, she asked, ‘So what does that mean?’

‘It means it’s all over, that you don’t owe me anymore,’ Draco said. He looked at Hermione again, then added, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to force you or even pursue you any longer. You’ll be left alone and won’t have to worry about me.’

‘Do you really still hate me that much, Draco?’ Hermione asked quietly, trying to stem the disappointment welling inside her.

‘No. But if you haven’t moved your red lines it’ll never work out because we don’t love each other, and that’s what you apparently need – all or nothing,’ Draco said.

‘So you’ve chosen nothing?’

A flicker of annoyance crossed Draco’s face. ‘No. That’s what _you_ chose. I’m just giving you what you wanted, Hermione.’

Hermione sighed. ‘I just wanted you to understand that all actions have consequences and you have to be prepared to deal with them . . . and I’m still not sure that either of us is ready for that if we have sex. It’s not as easy as just doing it and then forgetting it ever happened.’

‘Well, now you don’t have to worry about it anymore. You’re free to do whatever you want, with whomever you want. I don’t care any longer,’ Draco said tersely.

Hermione frowned. ‘You make it sound like I’m desperate to get off with someone else and I’m not.’

‘Well, I’m sure Weasley will be happy to know that you have no other obligations, that you’re free to do whatever you wish.’

Hermione gave a snort of derision. ‘I doubt it. If Ron was even bothered, which I can tell you he’s not, he doesn’t even know about this. I’ve never told anyone, as I strongly suspect you haven’t either. This is and has always been our little secret, Draco, and that’s never going to change whatever you might say. It’s always going to be part of us and our history with each other, something else you’re not going to be able to get away from.’

Coldly, Draco said, ‘There is no us, Hermione. You made sure of that by keep stalling and stalling. You got what you wanted.’

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but then thought better of it. There was no point in arguing, not now.

‘If that’s really how you feel, then there’s no point in continuing this conversation, is there?’ she said, her voice soft and sad.

Hermione walked up to Draco and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips.

He stared at her, seeming unsure what to say.

Hermione gave him a small smile. ‘Goodbye, Draco, and thank you for letting me go.’

For a moment Draco felt the urge to grab Hermione, to stop her from leaving him. But knowing it would be going back on what he had just promised, he instead watched her walk away from him down the corridor, a hollow feeling settling in his stomach.


	7. Conversation Seven – Thursday, 22 July 1999 – Hogwarts Corridor

‘ _Avada Kedavra_!’

Draco looked down at the rat he had just cursed and sighed before apologising to it, then used the vanishing spell to remove the evidence. He wasn’t even sure why he had killed the poor thing, even if it was vermin. There had been no need to, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from doing it.

It was as if nothing had changed in the two odd years since he had last been here. But that was rubbish. The world had changed entirely since then; he had changed since then. But the blond man still felt just as dissatisfied as his younger self had, although not for the same reasons. It was pathetic, but he was lurking in a dank corridor feeling bitter and fed up when he was supposed to be preparing to leave Hogwarts for the last time.

Maybe coming back to this corridor where he had spent all those weeks trying to prepare to kill Professor Dumbledore had been a mistake, especially with the pent up frustration he was feeling about Hermione Granger.

How different would his life have been had he followed his initial instincts and ended the life of the pretty brown-haired Gryffindor girl rather than allow her to go free and then lead him on a merry dance for two bloody years? If he had killed her then he would have been able to kill the Headmaster too, and everything in his life would have been completely different.

Instead, Hermione had played mind games on him with that bloody kiss she had requested, followed by two years of teasing, without ever giving him the debt she owed him for her life. Even now Draco still felt cheated, despite having released her from the obligation. If she had just been a bit more bloody grateful and given him what she—

Hearing a noise, Draco raised his wand, pointing it in the direction of the sound.

Hermione walked down the corridor. She stopped when she saw the blond Slytherin ahead of her, her heart pounding as she realised she was in precisely the same situation as she had been in two years ago. But after everything that had occurred between her and Draco since, maybe she wouldn’t be so lucky this time. Perhaps she should have stayed away and not come looking for him.

‘What are you doing here, Draco?’ Hermione asked. ‘Can you put your wand down, please?’

Ignoring the bit about the wand, Draco stared at her for a moment before answering belligerently, ‘I could ask you the same question, Hermione.’ He sighed loudly, lowered his wand, then said, ‘If you must know, I came here to think.’

‘And I came to find you,’ Hermione admitted.

Draco scowled. ‘How did you know I’d be here?’ Before Hermione had a chance to answer, he added, ‘Why did you want to find me, anyway?’

Hermione smiled. ‘I’m not sure why I thought you would be here, except that it obviously holds strong memories for you and as it was the last day of school you might want to come back. As to why I wanted to see you, it was because I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.’

‘Really? Why’s that, then? I would have thought that you couldn’t wait to see the back of me,’ Draco said.

‘Which just goes to show how much you’ve misunderstood me all along,’ Hermione replied sadly.

Draco frowned. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Why did I want you to kiss me, Draco?’ Hermione asked suddenly.

‘Because you wanted to guilt-trip me into not killing you,’ Draco said.

Hermione studied him for a moment, then said, ‘Okay. So what was the _real_ reason I wanted you to kiss me?’

Sounding annoyed, Draco said, ‘How the hell should I know?’

‘Because I told you why at the time.’

‘I can’t remember what you said,’ Draco lied.

‘I wanted you to kiss me because you were handsome . . . and because I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss the boy that I had fancied for such a long time. Even if you were going to kill me afterwards, at least I would know what that kiss was like,’ Hermione said quietly.

Draco stared at her in shock. ‘I don’t understand. If you fancied me back then, why didn’t you just give it up like you were supposed to? Why make me spend all that wasted time trying to convince you to fuck me?’

Hermione sighed, then shook her head, looking pityingly at Draco. ‘I told you that too, or tried to.’

‘You said we had to love each other.’

‘And I kept telling you to think about why you kept insisting that you wanted me so much,’ Hermione said.

‘I told you, it was because you owed me.’ Draco’s tone was curt.

‘Really? Even now, after all this time?’ Hermione looked disgusted. ‘I guess nothing really does change, does it?’

‘I _really_ don’t understand you, Hermione,’ Draco admitted.

‘No, clearly not.’ Hermione sighed again. ‘Look, I’m going to go, Draco. I should never have come here in the first place.’

Draco’s heart clenched at her words. He didn’t want Hermione to leave. Not yet. ‘No, Hermione, I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.’

‘But what’s the point in me staying?’

‘I don’t want you to go,’ he admitted.

‘Why not?’

But instead of an answer, Draco just scowled.

Hermione stared at him for a moment. Knowing she was fighting a losing battle, she changed the subject.

‘So why did you come here?’

Draco shrugged. ‘I told you. I was thinking.’

‘What were you thinking about?’

‘Just stuff, nothing important,’ Draco said dismissively.

Hermione considered for a moment, then said, ‘The first time we met here, you were trying to get ready to kill Professor Dumbledore, weren’t you?’

Draco looked at her in astonishment. ‘What?’

‘You were, weren’t you? You were here trying to convince yourself that you could do it,’ Hermione insisted.

Draco’s eyes narrowed. ‘How did you know that?’

‘I didn’t at the time,’ Hermione said. ‘I didn’t realise until a long time afterwards. But that’s why you couldn’t talk to me about it. It wasn’t because you didn’t want to but because you couldn’t.’

‘No, that’s wrong. I didn’t want to talk to you. I wanted to kill you, remember?’ Draco said.

‘Yes, of course I remember. Once I understood what you were doing then I realised that killing me was supposed to be a practice run. But you couldn’t kill me, and you couldn’t kill Professor Dumbledore either. I told you that you were nice.’ She paused for a moment, then added with a smile, ‘See, you actually are one of the good guys, Draco, even if you don’t believe that to be true.’

‘And that just goes to show that you don’t know me at all,’ Draco retorted.

Hermione smiled sadly. ‘No. Despite all my attempts to. You would never let me in.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It doesn’t matter now. I should go. Take care, Draco. I hope your life will be a happy one.’

Hermione turned away and began to walk down the corridor.

Draco watched Hermione walk away. She really was leaving this time and there was a strong possibility that he might never see her again. The realisation hit him like a punch to the gut. This was immediately followed by another — the sudden, certain knowledge that if he let Hermione walk away it would be the worst thing he would ever do.

In that one moment, Draco understood everything.

‘Hermione!’ Draco ran down the corridor after her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. ‘I said don’t leave.’

‘But there’s no point in me staying,’ Hermione said.

‘I love you, Hermione.’

Hermione stared at him. ‘What did you just say?’

‘I love you . . . and I’m a complete bloody idiot,’ Draco said. He grinned.

‘What makes you say that?’ Hermione sounded wary.

‘You gave me so many hints over the years, but I never got any of them,’ Draco said, now shaking his head ruefully. ‘Gods, you must have been so frustrated with me. I’m so sorry, Hermione.’

‘I’m not sure I understand,’ Hermione said.

‘You told me that we had to love each other before we could have sex,’ Draco said.

Hermione frowned. ‘That wasn’t exactly what I said.’

‘No, but it was what you meant. And you’ve already told me that you fancied me, even back at the beginning, so—’

‘Still not explaining,’ Hermione pointed out.

‘You’re in love with me, but because I’m such an idiot I was too busy thinking in terms of what I thought you owed me, not what I was demanding or why I was asking for it. You tried to get me to look past the obvious, to understand what was going on, but because I always think I know better than you I didn’t bother to do it and I ended up hurting both you and me.’

Draco grabbed Hermione’s hands. ‘You knew. You knew how I felt and you tried to help me see it, but I was too stubborn to work it out. I was a bloody idiot.’

‘So now you’re in love with me,’ Hermione said dully. ‘I suppose you want to claim your prize now, do you?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Draco looked confused.

‘You want to have sex.’

‘Do you?’

‘No, not really. Although I know you don’t believe me, I still don’t feel ready. And to be honest, Draco, your sudden conversion to the man who loves me doesn’t fill me with confidence.’ 

Draco looked frustrated. ‘Gods, Hermione, what do I have to do to make you see that this is real and that I’m not just using it as an excuse to fuck you?’

‘Maybe forget about the sex for the time being,’ Hermione suggested.

‘We leave school in about three hours,’ Draco said.

‘Yes, which is why me coming to find you was such a big mistake,’ Hermione said. ‘It would have been better if I had just gone.’

‘Easier, maybe, but not better,’ Draco retorted. ‘Anyway, I’d only have come after you if you’d left without saying goodbye.’

‘I don’t think that’s likely, Draco, seeing your surprise when I turned up in this corridor. I doubt you would even have thought about me.’

‘I was thinking about you when you turned up. That’s why I was so surprised,’ Draco admitted. ‘And while it might have taken me a little while longer to understand what was going on, I would still have got there eventually. The same fear that I would never see you again would have hit me at some point and I would have had to act upon it.’

He pulled Hermione towards him, releasing one of her hands so he could wrap his arm around her waist and draw her closer.

‘I love you, Hermione, whether you choose to believe it or not, and eventually I will prove it to you. Until then—’

Draco kissed her, wondering for a moment whether she would stop him. But Hermione kissed him back, her arms snaking around him as the kiss intensified. Not wanting the contact to end, or to end up arguing again, Draco kissed her a second time, and then a third, with more kisses following until they both lost count.

* * *

‘We need to go or we’re going to be late for the leaving feast,’ Hermione said.

They had finally stopped kissing but were still holding each other, neither wanting to be the first to let go.

Draco sighed. ‘That’s part of our problem, you know. We’re always up against a deadline.’

‘Only because you’re so impatient.’

‘Impatient? How am I impatient? I’ve waited years for you, Hermione.’

‘You released me from that debt, remember?’ Hermione said quietly.

‘Once again, because I’m an idiot.’

‘No, because despite everything you’re a nice and decent person,’ Hermione said. ‘You can scowl at me as much as you like but that’s the one thing that’s never changed about you, not in all the years I’ve known you.’

‘I haven’t been very nice to you over the years, especially the first time we were here,’ Draco admitted.

‘No, but that _was_ because you were being an idiot; believing rubbish that couldn’t possibly be true,’ Hermione said. Draco looked set to respond, so Hermione kissed him to stop him speaking. Then she grinned. ‘You’ve got a way to go still, but you’ve definitely improved since the early days so there’s some hope for you. But now we really must go.’

‘What about us?’ Draco asked.

Hermione shrugged. ‘Bit late to think about that now, don’t you think?’

‘But we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us.’

‘True. But I doubt I feature anywhere in your plans, and you’re not in mine,’ Hermione said.

‘Only because I was an idiot. But now we have a chance to make up for that,’ Draco said.

‘Maybe. We’ll just have to see how it goes, I think.’

‘Gods, you really are going to make me wait until we’re married, aren’t you?’ Draco asked, sounding disappointed.

‘And we’re now late,’ Hermione said, ignoring both Draco’s comment and the sudden swirly feeling in her stomach as she disentangled herself from his arms. She took his hand instead. ‘Come on. We don’t want to miss our last ever Hogwarts feast.’

Draco honestly wasn’t bothered about missing the feast, especially if it gave him more time alone with Hermione. But it was clear she wanted to attend, and playing up now wasn’t going to do him any favours after so many years of being an idiot around her.

‘I suppose it is the end of an era so we ought to celebrate,’ he said as they walked in the direction of the Great Hall. 


	8. Conversation Eight – Friday, 17 September 1999 – Ministry of Magic Corridor

Draco paused to catch his breath before turning the corner. He didn't want Hermione, or either of her friends if they were with her, to see him looking anything other than his usual calm and debonair self. Even though he was already running late, thanks to a broken lift and having to run up four flights of stairs, something he hadn't had to do for quite some time, he felt it was worth the effort to spend a few extra seconds preparing himself to make sure he looked good.

It was an important day after all — no, it was an important weekend — and Draco wanted to make sure that it started out right. All his hopes for the future rested upon this weekend.

He was relieved, upon arriving at the corridor inside the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, to discover that Hermione wasn't yet there. Nor, even more happily, were her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, men with whom he still felt some discord.

Draco sauntered slowly down the corridor, arranging himself artfully against the wall opposite the door to the Being Division, standing just shy of the opening so that anyone leaving the room wouldn't spot him immediately. He waited expectantly, but the door didn't open.

When another five minutes passed and the door still stayed firmly shut Draco began to wonder if he had missed Hermione completely. Had she got out earlier than anticipated and gone off somewhere with her friends? It wasn't as if she was expecting him to be there so it was unlikely she would have hung around on the off-chance.

The door opened and Draco waited with bated breath, but the woman in a blue robe and matching cat's eye spectacles who stepped out of the room and turned to walk in the opposite direction wasn't Hermione. Draco glanced at his watch, anxiously checking that he hadn't made a mistake with the time. No, it was definitely eleven forty-nine. Hermione's interview should have ended nine minutes ago.

Draco tapped his foot against the wall as he waited, trying to decide whether to stay here for a bit longer or go and see if he could find Weasley and Potter in hopes that Hermione was with them. There was the sound of the door opening and Draco stood up, silently praying it would be Hermione.

A moment later Hermione stepped through the door, heading towards the lift. Lost in her reverie, she hadn't yet spotted Draco.

'How did it go?' he asked softly.

Hermione jumped, held her hand to her heart looking terrified, then smiled brightly when she realised who had spoken.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

Draco held out the large bouquet of flowers he was carrying. Hermione took them from him and sniffed them.

'Oh, Draco, they're beautiful, thank you.'

Draco moved closer and wrapped his arms around Hermione.

'You're the beautiful one, Hermione. So, did you get it?'

She nodded, looking excited. 'They want me to start next week.'

Draco gave her a huge hug, almost squashing the flowers. Hermione gave a squeal and he released her.

'That's great news. I knew you could do it.'

'Of course you did. That's why you asked how I did,' Hermione said wryly.

'You'd have said I was presumptuous if I'd just asked when you were starting,' Draco pointed out.

'True, I suppose. You still haven't told me what you're doing here, though.'

'Do you want me to leave, then?' Draco asked. His heart rate had increased along with a feeling of anxiety that Hermione was going to send him away.

'No, not at all. I'm pleased to see you. But I thought you were busy elsewhere this weekend.'

'I am, but I wouldn't be much of a boyfriend if I didn't come and support you for something as important as this, would I?'

 _No, but you'll happily miss my birthday._ The sour thought dampened Hermione's pleasure a little.

Draco caught the slight dip in mood. 'What's the matter?' he asked.

Hermione shook her head. 'Nothing.' She went to take his arm, but Draco moved slightly, both to stop her doing it and to stop her walking.

'Tell me what's wrong,' he asked again.

'Nothing's wrong.' Hermione gave him a brittle smile.

Draco almost told Hermione she was lying, but knew it wouldn't do him any favours, and he so wanted this to go well.

'I told Harry and Ron I would go and see them after the interview. We're going to have lunch — to celebrate the job and—'

Hermione shut up abruptly, frowning, not wanting to mention her birthday. If Draco couldn't be bothered to find out when it was and make sure he was available to celebrate it with her, then that was his choice. She didn't have to be happy about it, though.

Draco gave a small smile as he realised Hermione's snippy mood wasn't because she wasn't pleased to see him but because she thought he hadn't realised that it was her birthday on Sunday. He just hoped Potter and Weasley had done as he had requested. Unfortunately, nothing was ever certain with those two and he was well aware that neither of them was particularly happy about his and Hermione's relationship.

His hand went inside the pocket of his jacket, anxiously fingering the contents.

'Actually, before we go and find your friends—' he started.

Hermione stared at him expectantly.

Draco took a deep breath, his heart pounding fit to burst, crossed his fingers for luck, then took his hand from his pocket as he dropped to one knee, the ring box in his hand held out to the now astonished Hermione.

'Will you marry me, Hermione?'

Draco opened the box to reveal a sizeable emerald-cut emerald and baguette diamond engagement ring. He stared at Hermione hopefully.

Hermione's breath was taken away by the jaw-droppingly beautiful ring Draco was holding out to her. She was a bit thrown by the fact that he was asking her in a dingy, deserted Ministry of Magic corridor rather than somewhere more stylish or personal, but then she had no idea where that would be and Hermione realised she was glad that he hadn't chosen to embarrass her by doing it somewhere where a lot of people would see them.

For a moment she wondered whether Draco wasn't confident that she would accept his proposal and this was why he had chosen to do it here. But Hermione couldn't believe anyone would buy a ring that extravagant if they expected to be turned down.

Butterflies swirled madly in her stomach as her heart raced, having missed a beat as the ring box was opened. How much had that ring cost? Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine the price, especially in Galleons. She had no doubt the stones were real and knowing Draco it was probably Goblin-made, making it the finest quality he could buy. The colour of the stone was exquisite and there wasn't a single flaw that she could see.

Hermione itched to try it on, to see what it looked like on her finger, knowing it would be ridiculous and impressive at the same time. But was she ready to commit to Draco, especially knowing what acceptance would mean, in his mind at least?

'We don't have to get married quickly if you'd prefer a longer engagement,' Draco said, suddenly worried that Hermione might think he was trying to trap her. He was aware that they had only officially been a couple for a couple of months, regardless of how long before that they had actually fancied each other.

He looked at her expectantly.

Hermione grinned and nodded. 'Yes, of course I will, Draco. But I want to get settled into my job before we even think about getting married.'

Draco, beaming with delight, stood up and took the ring out of the box. He placed it on Hermione's finger, pleased at the choice he had made. He suspected his new fiancée would be horrified to discover just how much it had cost, but he had plenty of money and was more than happy to spend every Knut of it on Hermione.

'Don't think this means we're jumping into bed, though,' Hermione warned.

Draco sighed loudly, but it was only for show and he grinned straight afterwards to make sure Hermione knew it. In truth, he had never expected the ring to be the catalyst for Hermione's capitulation and was by now convinced that what she had told him during one of their earlier confrontations was true; once they did finally end up in bed it would be all the better because they were both ready for it and both in love. It was worth waiting for that.

He took her hand and squeezed it. 'We'd better go and find the idiots. They'll be wondering where you've got to.'

Hermione frowned. 'I wish you'd stop calling them that. They're my best friends and you're going to be spending a lot of time with them over the years so you'd better get used to calling them by their names.'

'Not sure Weasley's ready to stop calling me Ferret,' Draco replied.

'So you can be the bigger person and lead by example,' Hermione said.

'All right, I'll try as you asked so nicely,' Draco said. 'Where are you going for lunch, anyway?'

'No idea. Harry told me it was a surprise.' She considered for a moment then added, ' You don't have to come along if you don't want to.'

'Why wouldn't I want to?' Draco sounded confused.

'I don't know. It's probably not going to be the sort of fancy place you're used to dining at.'

'I ate in the Great Hall at Hogwarts for the best part of eight years,' Draco pointed out. 'I think I'll survive. Don't you want me to come, then?'

Hermione gripped his hand tighter and kissed him on the cheek. 'Of course I do. I just don't want you feeling uncomfortable, that's all.'

'I won't feel that,' Draco said. 'The lift's not working, by the way.'

Hermione groaned. 'It wasn't when I arrived, but I was hoping they would have fixed it by now.'

'I'll carry your flowers for you if you want,' Draco offered. He took the bouquet from her as they headed into the stairwell. 'So did they give you an actual starting date?'

'Yes, I'm starting on Monday.'

As she told Draco the date, Hermione realised that it would curtail her birthday celebrations slightly as she needed to make sure she didn't arrive for her first day at work with a hangover. Then again, she hadn't been planning to do much anyway and it was unlikely her best friends had planned anything as it wasn't really their style.

It was possible Ginny might have organised something, but as it wasn't a special birthday she wasn't expecting more than a few drinks down the local pub followed by lunch at the Burrow. She thought her parents might take her out for a meal to celebrate, but that would be on Saturday night. And Draco was already busy all weekend doing whatever it was that was more important to him than her birthday, so he definitely wouldn't have arranged anything.

Once again a sting of anger rose at his thoughtlessness but Hermione pushed it down, determined not to let it ruin her good mood. He had bought her a beautiful engagement ring so that would do for the time being. She could make Draco feel guilty about missing her birthday later, there was no need to get petty about it now.

Draco frowned briefly when Hermione said she was starting work on Monday but was pleased to see she hadn't noticed, concentrating as she was on the stairs. He was reasonably confident that she wouldn't be starting until Tuesday — as long as the idiots had done their part right — but he would feel happier once they confirmed it.

A couple of minutes later and they were out in the crowded Atrium. Hermione had taken the bouquet back and was looking around for Harry and Ron, knowing that Draco's unexpected proposal and the extended interview had made her later than she had arranged with them. A few minutes later she spotted the men and Ginny, who had joined them, waiting near the café. Hermione waved at her friends.

Ginny rushed over to the couple, Harry and Ron following close behind. She gave Hermione a hug and kissed her cheek. 'How did the interview go? Those flowers are lovely. From Draco, I suppose?'

Hermione nodded, smiling. 'Yes, they're nice, aren't they? I got the job. I start on Monday.'

Ginny glanced quickly at Draco. 'That soon? It doesn't give you much time to prepare, or to get over a—'

'I think they're short-staffed,' Hermione said, cutting Ginny off before she could mention a hangover. 'I don't mind anyway. I'm keen to get started. There's a lot of work to do on a new house-elf bill that the Ministry wants to introduce.'

She noticed Harry was carrying a small suitcase. 'Are you going away again?' she asked.

Harry shrugged but before he could answer, Ron said, 'We've booked an Italian restaurant up near Diagon Alley. Probably best if we take the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then walk from there.'

'Fine by me,' Hermione said.

As they wandered to the Floo stations she wondered if any of her friends were going to notice the massive engagement ring or if she was going to have to say something to them, and if so when she should mention it.

Knowing the dissension it might cause, Hermione didn't really want to ruin her celebration lunch, so she decided to leave it and wait and see if anyone said anything; although she was pretty sure that the only person who would notice would be Ginny, and she was far too savvy to say anything, especially when it might cause an argument.

'So did you say you were going away somewhere?' Hermione asked Harry once they were all inside the Leaky Cauldron and Ron was trying to work out which way they needed to go to get to the restaurant.

'Weekend away,' Harry said.

'Lucky you,' Hermione retorted. 'I wouldn't mind going away for the weekend . . . except that someone's already too busy doing other things.' She shot a sly glare at Draco.

Harry smiled.

'I don't know what you're smiling about,' Hermione said grumpily. 'It's all right for you, swanning off on a nice weekend away.' She thought about it for a moment, realising that would reduce the number of people available to celebrate her birthday with her. 'Is Ginny going with you?' she asked, feeling her mood flatten further at the thought that only Ron would be around to celebrate with, as he was the least likely of her friends to have remembered her birthday.

'Have you found that restaurant yet, Ron?' Harry asked, seeming not to have heard Hermione's final question.

'Yep. Out the door, turn left and there's an alleyway about two hundred yards down on the left,' Ron said. 'It's down there. Everyone follow me!'

Follow him they did, and amazingly, it turned out that Ron was right. Ten minutes later they were all sitting around a table in the middle of the restaurant studying menus while Harry, Ron and Draco took it in turns to have mock sword fights with breadsticks.

'That's a jolly nice ring you're wearing,' Ginny said quietly as she and Hermione watched the men mucking around. 'I assume it wasn't an early birthday present?'

Hermione flushed happily and shook her head. 'No. Draco asked me to marry him. He did it when I came out of the interview.'

Ginny frowned. 'What, in the Department for Magical Creatures? That's an interesting location.'

'Yes, I did wonder about that myself. I think he did it there because it was quiet.'

'Was he worried about you saying no, then?'

'I don't think so. I think he was trying to be considerate,' Hermione said.

'By asking you in some dingy corridor in the Ministry of Magic?'

'I honestly don't mind,' Hermione said, feeling suddenly defensive of her fiancé and his choice of the proposal location.

'Neither would I if someone gave me a thirty thousand Galleon ring,' Ginny said. 'To be honest, I'd even consider marrying Draco for that.'

Hermione stared at her in astonishment. 'Thirty thousand Galleons? It can't have cost that much, surely?'

Ginny studied it more closely. 'I reckon it's got to be at least that much, Hermione. Look at it. That emerald is seriously impressive. It's got to be, what, at least seven carats and it's absolutely perfect in clarity and cut. I reckon you wouldn't get much change out of seven or eight thousand Galleons, just for that stone alone. Then you've got all those diamonds and more emeralds. They've got to be another good ten or probably more like fifteen thousand Galleons. The ring itself is probably platinum, and you just know it's going to be Goblin made, so yeah, I reckon you're easily talking thirty thousand, probably more than that.'

'I wish you hadn't said that,' Hermione said, her face going pale.

'Why not? I'd be over the moon if someone gave me a ring that amazing.'

'But I can never wear it, can I?' Hermione said.

Ginny snorted. 'What? Of course you can. You should wear it every day and show it off to every single person you ever meet.'

'But what if I lose it?' Hermione said. 'Or if one of the stones falls out or something? I'd never be able to forgive myself. It's a gorgeous ring. But now I know how much it's worth I'll be too scared to wear it. I won't even be able to keep it at home in case it gets stolen.'

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Draco didn't give you that ring so you could keep it locked away in your vault in Gringotts or in your jewellery box. He meant you to wear it, Hermione, and I think you should do that. It fits, doesn't it? So it's not going to fall off. If you feel it's getting too loose, then get it adjusted. And don't worry about losing a stone; with the quality of that work those gems are going nowhere. You really are an extremely lucky girl.' She looked over at Harry, who along with Ron had now put the breadsticks up their nostrils, and shook her head, sighing disgustedly. 'You don't want to swap Draco for Harry, do you? Look at the state of them.'

Hermione chuckled. 'Not really. Anyway, Draco's just as big an idiot as Harry and Ron are. Look.'

She gestured in the direction of Draco, who after laughing at Harry and Ron's antics with the breadsticks had decided to join them.

'Perhaps we should take the ring and run away together and leave those three to it,' Ginny suggested. She coughed loudly to get the men's attention, then said, 'Have you decided what you're having yet?'

The three men looked embarrassed.

'I haven't had a chance to look yet,' Ron muttered. He pulled the breadsticks from his nose and disappeared behind the menu. Harry and Draco followed suit.

'What are you having?' Ginny asked Hermione.

'I'm thinking about tomato bruschetta to start and some sort of pasta . . . maybe the mushroom ravioli with rocket and pine nuts.'

Ginny nodded. 'Sounds good. I'm having the arancini balls followed by the lasagne.'

'Are we ready to order?' Harry asked.

There was a chorus of yeses, followed by Ron hailing the waiter so they could give their order.

'I assume from the suitcase that you managed to do it okay?' Draco asked Harry quietly once the starters had been served and they were eating.

'Yep. Everything you need is in there. Ginny sorted it out for me so I'm certain it's right. And I had a word with the Being Division. They're not expecting her in until ten a.m. on Tuesday although they told her to start on Monday so as not to give anything away.'

'Brilliant! Thanks for doing that. I really appreciate it,' Draco said.

'Let's hope it works,' Harry said. 'Hermione's seriously pissed off with you because she thinks you don't know it's her birthday. Even that bloody great rock on her hand hasn't chilled her out, so I don't envy you.'

Draco smiled. 'She'll be fine.'

'I'm glad you're so confident,' Ron said sounding impressed. 'That is a nice ring, though. Where did you get it?'

'Out of your price range, Weasel,' Draco said.

Ron snorted. 'I already knew that, Ferret, but it's a lovely piece. It must have set you back a few Galleons.'

Draco smiled again. 'You could say that. I had it specially made.' He looked over at Hermione, who was still talking animatedly to Ginny. 'It was worth every Galleon though.'

'You're completely smitten,' Harry said. He sounded amused but was actually astonished.

Draco shrugged. 'If I manage to get through this weekend alive we're getting married.'

'Rather you than me,' Ron said darkly. 'She's got a temper that one.'

'Yes, I know that, but I also know how to calm it,' Draco said, looking smug.

'Yeah. How?' Ron looked interested.

Draco stared at him for a moment. 'I'm not telling you, Weasley. Hermione's my girl.'

* * *

'Come with me,' Draco said, taking Hermione's hand once they had left the restaurant and were walking back up Diagon Alley.

'Where do you want to go?' Hermione asked. 'I thought you were off doing things this weekend. Don't you need to leave?'

'Yes, but I want you to come with me,' Draco said with a wicked grin. He sped up a little, pulling Hermione with him. As they passed Harry, he took the case from him and carried on walking.

'Have a good weekend,' Harry said.

Draco raised the hand that was holding Hermione's in a wave.

'Go where?' Hermione said. She looked apprehensive.

'Do you trust me, Hermione?' Draco asked.

'No, not in the slightest.' Hermione's eyebrow arched as she stared at him.

'Really?' Draco sounded disappointed. 'I thought you might after all this time.'

'Well, I suppose you're not the least trustworthy person ever,' Hermione conceded.

'Good, then let's go.'

Draco wrapped his free arm around Hermione, holding her tightly, then used his wand to Disapparate.

Hermione looked around her. Although she had no idea where she was, she could see that the hotel — it was obviously a hotel — was an expensive one.

She turned to look at Draco.

'Why are we here? And more to the point, where are we?' she asked.

Draco smiled. 'We're at the Clarence Hotel in the Peak District, and we're here to celebrate your birthday.'

Hermione stared at him in astonishment. 'I didn't think you even knew when my birthday was.'

Draco looked amused. 'Just because I've never celebrated it with you doesn't mean I don't know when it is, Hermione. I've known your birthday is the nineteenth of September since our first year at Hogwarts.' He indicated the building in front of them. 'We're here for a long weekend where you can relax and rejuvenate before you start your new job.'

'But I'm starting work on Monday, so I can't have a long weekend,' Hermione said.

'No, you're starting on Tuesday. They just told you Monday to keep the trip a surprise. I got Harry to explain to your boss why you needed the extra day. See, I told you I knew you would get the job.'

'But how did you know? Did you do something there as well?' Hermione asked, frowning now and feeling suddenly annoyed that Draco had felt he needed to help her get a job.

'No. It was obvious you were going to get it because you were the best candidate for the post. I didn't need to do anything. All we did was request that you start a day late if they offered you the job.'

'It's really lovely you bringing me away like this, Draco, but I think my parents were expecting to take me out to dinner tomorrow night,' Hermione said.

'Yes, and they still will be. They're arriving tomorrow afternoon,' Draco said. 'We'll be having dinner here. This hotel has a world-class restaurant, as well as a decent spa. Harry, Ron and Ginny will be joining us for lunch on Sunday too and then you, Ginny and your mother are booked for a spa session with facials and massage in the afternoon.'

'And you arranged all this?'

Draco nodded. He moved forward to give her a hug.

'I wanted to do something special for you, my love. And when I spoke to your father—'

'You spoke to my dad?'

'Of course I did. I had to ask his permission to marry you,' Draco said as if it was obvious. 'I told him I was going to take you away for the weekend and he mentioned the meal, so I said they should come along and do it here — a celebration for both your birthday and the engagement . . . and now the job offer, too.'

'You asked my dad if you could marry me,' Hermione said. She sounded and looked stunned.

'I wasn't going to ask you without his permission,' Draco said. 'I may be many things, Hermione, but I do understand about etiquette.'

'So you went to see my dad—'

'Yes, and I asked him if I could ask you to marry me.'

'And my dad said yes?'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Well, of course he did. I wouldn't have asked you if he had said no, would I?'

Hermione shrugged. 'I don't know, wouldn't you?' She looked around for a moment then said, 'I feel like I'm in a Jane Austen novel right now.' Draco looked at her quizzically. Hermione sighed, then explained, 'She's a Muggle writer from the eighteenth century. All that stuff about getting my dad's permission is like something from one of her books . . . as is the hotel from the looks of things.'

'Don't Muggles ask for permission to marry, then?' Draco asked.

'Not so much these days,' Hermione said. 'I'm sure some still do, but generally the couple decide for themselves and then tell everyone they're doing it. They have a party or something to announce it.'

'Do you want a party?' Draco asked.

Hermione smiled and took his hand. 'Not unless you really want to. We're seeing my parents tomorrow and we've already had the meal with my friends today, so that'll do for them as I'm sure they all noticed the ring even if they didn't mention it — although there is always Sunday if we want to make a bit more of a thing of it.' She paused for a moment, thinking, then, 'Are your parents coming along too?'

Draco shook his head. 'I haven't told them yet. They're not going to be happy when they find out — well, my father isn't, I'm not sure how my mother's going to react — so I thought we'd deal with them once we're married.'

'You're not going to invite them to the wedding?' Hermione sounded surprised.

'Do you really want my father to be there?' Draco asked.

Hermione thought for a moment. 'Not really,' she admitted. 'Especially if he's going to be against the marriage.'

'Oh, he's definitely going to be against it,' Draco said. 'But I don't care. I love you, Hermione, and I want you to be my wife.'

He pulled Hermione close and gave her a kiss.

'What if he cuts you off?' Hermione asked.

Draco shrugged uncaringly. 'I wouldn't worry about it. If he does, he does. I'm prepared for that. I don't think he will, though. Once mother gets used to the idea she'll talk him round, and then he'll realise what an asset you are to the family.'

'So I'm an asset, am I?' Hermione said. 'Is that why you want to marry me?'

'No, I want to marry you because I really want to fuck you,' Draco said, keeping his face completely straight.

'I'm not sleeping with you this weekend if that's what you were planning. Especially with my parents coming tomorrow,' Hermione said.

'Well, that might be a bit difficult as they only had one room free tonight, so we're going to have to share.'

'In that case, you'll be sleeping on the sofa,' Hermione said.

Draco sighed. 'Are you really going to make me wait until we get married, Hermione?'

'I don't believe I've ever said that,' Hermione said with a smile. 'You've mentioned it several times, though, which I think speaks volumes.'

'Let's go and get checked in and dump all this stuff. We can argue about who sleeps where later.'

'Are we really sharing a room?' Hermione asked as they walked into the lobby of the hotel.

'No, of course not,' Draco admitted.

He smiled at the desk clerk. 'Miss Hermione Granger for the Auburn suite, please.'


	9. Conversation Nine – Saturday, 16 September 2000 – Clarence Hotel Corridor

Hermione stared at herself in the mirror, which took up almost the whole of the wall at the end of the corridor, turning this way and that to admire the exquisite dress she was wearing. She looked so happy; couldn’t stop smiling but that was how she was feeling, so she was glad the emotion showed. She moved closer, checking that her makeup was still perfect despite that she had only looked at it a few minutes earlier while she was in the bathroom.

She looked down at her left hand, admiring the still-amazing engagement ring that never failed to astonish her with its beauty and the stylish and equally beautiful and no doubt expensive wedding band that now sat next to it. Hermione still couldn’t believe that she was married and suspected it would take a little while for it to sink in properly.

‘Checking to see that it hasn’t disappeared?’ Draco asked, sounding amused.

Hermione looked up, surprise on her face. She hadn’t heard him approach.

‘I think it would have trouble getting past the engagement ring. Unless it’s made of leprechaun gold in which case it will just vanish,’ Hermione said. ‘What are you doing out here, anyway?’

‘I’ve come to steal you away for a little while,’ Draco said. ‘I want to be alone with you for a bit. I haven’t had you to myself since we arrived, what with your mother and Ginny and her mother. I feel like I’ve married a stranger.’

‘Don’t be so melodramatic. It’s only been a day, and we’re going off on our honeymoon tomorrow so we’ll be alone for two weeks.’

‘Really, I just wanted to do this.’ Draco wrapped his arms around her. ‘And this.’ He kissed her.

Hermione smiled. ‘We ought to go back although I wouldn’t say no to another kiss first if there’s one going spare.’

Draco kissed her again, then released her and took her hand.

‘Come with me.’

‘Where are we going? That’s not the direction of the reception room.’

‘Nope. I’ve told Harry and Ron to keep everyone occupied for a bit. I think we can get away with thirty minutes.’

‘And what are we going to do for thirty minutes?’ Hermione asked.

‘I can certainly think of something we could do.’ Draco grinned.

‘It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with sex, would it?’

‘Well . . . .’

‘I think we’re going to need a bit longer than that,’ Hermione told him, smiling wickedly.

Draco rose an eyebrow. ‘Really? We’d better wait until later, then. At least now we’re married you can’t give me any more excuses.’

‘Actually, I’m still not sure I’m ready.’ 

‘You’ve got be kidding, Hermione. It’s been three and a half years now.’

‘But that debt is no longer outstanding. You cancelled it over a year ago, remember?’ Hermione grinned as Draco’s face fell. ‘I was joking, Draco. I’m sorry I’ve made you wait so long.’

‘It was worth it,’ he said gruffly. ‘I got a beautiful wife out of it.’

They wandered down the corridor and out of the hotel, heading into the picturesque garden. Draco led Hermione to a vine-covered bench and the two of them sat down, still holding hands.

‘I thought we needed a breather because we’ve got the speeches and whatnot when we get back,’ Draco said. ‘I have to admit, I’m dreading what my father’s going to say. He wouldn’t let me see his speech when I asked him earlier.’

‘That sounds ominous,’ Hermione said, feeling suddenly anxious. ‘You don’t think he’s going to go into a rant about Muggles and Muggle-borns, do you?’

Draco moved to wrap his arms around her and gave her a hug.

‘I’m sure my mother will have vetted it thoroughly to make sure he’s not going to say anything disparaging or controversial. I think he secretly rather likes you, Hermione, although that might change if that house-elf Bill of yours goes through.’

‘There’s still a long way to go with that, so hopefully I’ll have managed to talk him round by then. I do hope he isn’t going to say anything mean, though. He’ll upset everyone if he does.’

Draco stroked her arm soothingly. ‘I’m sure it will be fine. My mother was mortified when she thought they weren’t getting an invite to the wedding, so she really did a number on him.’

‘I really like your mother,’ Hermione admitted with a smile. ‘She was great when we went shopping for the dress; really entertaining. We all had such a good afternoon, and it was so nice of her to treat us to afternoon tea afterwards. It was like a mini hen party.’

‘I’m amazed you managed to find a dress with so many different people helping you,’ Draco said. ‘But I have to admit, they did a good job. You look fantastic. You really took my breath away when you walked into the room. Even Blaise was impressed, and you know how hard he is to please.’

‘There was a bit of disagreement,’ Hermione said sounding amused. ‘I wanted something plain; my mother wanted something with lace.’ She grimaced. ‘Your mother agreed with mine, but then Mrs Weasley pointed out some great big frou-frou thing that had lace and bows and all sorts, and they all fell in love with that, even before I tried it on.’ She shook her head. ‘I looked like a wedding cake, and I would never have been able to sit down in it. Fortunately, Ginny came to the rescue with a far more sensible dress, but then the shop assistant suggested this one. I knew it was the perfect dress when they all burst into tears.’

‘I love it . . . and I love you,’ Draco said.

‘I love you, too. Thank you for organising such a wonderful wedding for us. The venue is perfect. The photos are going to be great.’

‘I knew it was going to be special when we stayed here last year,’ Draco said. ‘I actually booked it all before we left, hoping I’d be able to convince you to come back this year.’

‘You’ve done well, but I really think we need to go back to the reception soon.’

‘Just a few minutes more. I’m enjoying it just being the two of us.’

‘Actually, there was something I always meant to ask you, and now seems like the perfect time,’ Hermione said.

Draco stared at her interestedly.

‘Why did you ask me to marry you in the corridor of the Department of Magical Creatures?’ She paused for a moment, then hurriedly added, ‘I’m not complaining, just wondering why you chose there. It seemed like such an odd location for a marriage proposal.’

‘I meant to ask you here,’ Draco admitted. ‘I had planned to bring you out here once we’d checked in and ask you then. But when I saw you coming out of the interview, I just wanted to do it there and then. You looked so happy because you’d just got the job, and I thought why not? After all, all our important conversations have always taken place in corridors, so why not add the Ministry of Magic to that? I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you were expecting from a proposal.’

‘It was perfect,’ Hermione said honestly. ‘But I think we need to go back now, don’t we?’

‘I think we might have time for another couple of kisses first,’ Draco said.

* * *

Draco and Hermione ambled hand in hand back towards the reception room, knowing they couldn’t put it off any longer. 

‘How many hours until we can go to bed?’ Draco asked.

Hermione shrugged, ‘What’s the time?’

Draco looked at his watch. ‘Almost four o’clock.’

‘It’ll be at least another six or seven hours, then.’

Draco looked mortified. ‘Really? Why do we have to stay up so late?’

‘Because we’ve got an evening reception due to start in a couple of hours and that will go on until at least midnight, probably longer than that by the time we’ve said goodbye to everyone.’

‘I don’t think I can wait that long,’ Draco said.

‘You’ve waited three and a half years, so I’m sure you can manage another six hours.’ Hermione’s tone was soothing. ‘I’ll make it worth your while, just you wait and see.’

‘I think I should have just killed you like I intended to do in the first place,’ Draco grumbled.

‘It would certainly have saved you a lot of money,’ Hermione said. ‘There’s still time if you want to change your mind. I can wait while you go and get your wand.’

‘To be honest, I don’t think I could have killed you anyway . . . even if we hadn’t kissed,’ Draco admitted.

Hermione smiled at him. ‘No, I know you couldn’t. I told you, you’re one of the good guys.’

She pulled Draco to a stop and wrapped her arms around him.

‘I’m so glad you didn’t kill me that night, Draco. I’m not sure if I’ve ever really said thank you to you for letting me live, but I’m saying it now. Thank you.’

Draco gently stroked her cheek. ‘Thank you for asking me for a final request,’ he said quietly. ‘I honestly believe you saved me that night, although I didn’t realise it until a long time afterwards . . . too long afterwards.’

‘I think we saved each other,’ Hermione said.

Draco sighed. ‘I love you so much, but sometimes all I can think about is what would have happened if things had ended differently that night.’

Hermione squeezed him tightly. ‘But it didn’t, so stop thinking about a future that never happened, and let’s think instead about what the future really will hold for us.’

‘You’re going to be Minister for Magic one day,’ Draco said, grateful for Hermione’s ability to skip over his failings.

‘Possibly. I think that probably depends on how many kids we have.’

Draco stared at her, looking surprised, yet pleased. ‘Are we going to have children?’

Hermione nodded. ‘I think so. At least two.’

‘You do realise we have to have sex for that to happen?’ he said.

Hermione grinned. ‘I really hope that six hours goes quickly.’

‘Me too.’ Draco hugged Hermione tighter. ‘Gods, I love you.’

‘For the rest of our lives,’ Hermione said, sounding content.

Draco hugged her again, then released her, grabbing her hand as they resumed walking once more.

‘Come on then, let’s get this over and done with,’ he said, sounding resigned.

‘You make it sound like a chore when it should be a celebration.’

‘I just _really_ want to fuck you,’ Draco admitted.

Hermione smiled. ‘I’m glad we’re not going anywhere interesting for our honeymoon.’

Draco scowled at her. ‘We’re going to the Seychelles, Hermione. It’s supposed to be amazing.’

‘It definitely will be. There’s nothing but sand and sea.’

‘And a big bed,’ Draco said.

‘That too,’ Hermione sounded amused.

They stopped outside the door to the reception.

‘Are you ready?’ Draco asked.

Hermione nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’

‘I love you, Mrs Malfoy.’ Draco said.

‘I love you too, Mr Malfoy,’ Hermione replied.

Draco kissed her, one final time, then opened the door and led his bride back into the reception, glancing at his watch as he did so.

‘Six hours and counting,’ he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. It was just a bit of fluff to keep us entertained in dark and dangerous times. Keep safe everyone! 
> 
> If you're interested in the engagement ring that Draco gave Hermione, you can see the one I based it on in my blog. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here, so you can find it in my profile. Dx


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